Equitable Holdings Inc. Invests $8.41 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 53,688 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,411,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly performance: Salesforce reported adjusted EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, slightly exceeding expectations. Profit was also helped by gains on strategic investments, including Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic. Salesforce stock jumps on AI growth and Anthropic investment gain
• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook: Management lifted fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion and EPS guidance to $16.67-$16.71. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $3.42-$3.44 also topped the $3.16 analyst estimate, signaling confidence in demand and profitability. Salesforce raises annual revenue forecasts on AI product momentum
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is gaining traction: Current remaining performance obligations accelerated 14% in constant currency, while Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion. Reports also highlighted a sixfold increase in AI usage, supporting the view that AI may expand Salesforce’s platform rather than replace it. Jim Cramer says Nvidia and Salesforce earnings upended two bear narratives
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership expands Salesforce’s AI offering: The “Claudeforce” initiative integrates Anthropic’s Claude with Salesforce workflows, data and governance, including prebuilt sales skills. Investors view the partnership as a potential catalyst for Agentforce adoption and AI monetization. Salesforce and Anthropic announce Claudeforce
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst reaction improved: JPMorgan, Mizuho, BMO, Truist and Monness Crespi raised their price targets, with targets ranging from $260 to $300; Needham maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target. The results were widely described as weakening the “SaaSpocalypse” bear thesis. Salesforce Q2 results squash SaaSpocalypse fears

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $252.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $179.14 and its 200-day moving average is $182.03.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 23.35%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Salesforce from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.15.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.