Investors Buy High Volume of ServiceNow Call Options (NYSE:NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 179,416 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 17% compared to the typical volume of 153,597 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Friday, July 17th. CLSA started coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Monday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $125.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In related news, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total transaction of $103,238.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,212.72. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total transaction of $130,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 44,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,919,243.90. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,144 shares of company stock worth $1,730,097. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow by 404.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,963,384 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,619,771,000 after buying an additional 81,752,460 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 406.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,896,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,337,280,000 after acquiring an additional 38,441,898 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 371.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,395,663 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,962,692,000 after acquiring an additional 25,517,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 404.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,512,428 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,591,425,000 after acquiring an additional 18,854,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in ServiceNow by 335.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,733,483 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,482,543,000 after acquiring an additional 17,514,679 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting ServiceNow

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow’s Q2 results showed robust growth, with revenue up about 24% year over year and subscription revenue accelerating, reinforcing that demand for its platform remains strong. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised guidance and highlighted AI momentum, including AI contract value topping $1 billion and expanding enterprise adoption, which supports the case for continued growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised or reaffirmed bullish ratings and price targets after earnings, reflecting renewed confidence in ServiceNow’s outlook and valuation upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships and channel expansions, including deals with Experian, TeamViewer, and Exclusive Networks, suggest broader adoption of ServiceNow’s AI and cybersecurity offerings. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching mixed signals from insider and institutional trading, with some large funds trimming positions even as others add shares; this appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a clear fundamental warning. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, some commentary says the stock’s rally may be vulnerable if AI disruption fears return, especially around usage-based pricing and long-term software demand. Article Title

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $98.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.73, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.84. ServiceNow has a one year low of $81.24 and a one year high of $201.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.77 and a 200 day moving average of $107.70.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.04. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 11.34%.The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. ServiceNow’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow Company Profile

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.