Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $9.28 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,567 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,202 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $258.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.49. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total transaction of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.

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