Apollon Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Apollon Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Apollon Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.81 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.