ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Up 0.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price rose 0.7% during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $1,128.00 to $1,160.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. ServiceNow traded as high as $981.99 and last traded at $972.10. Approximately 267,622 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,507,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $965.26.

NOW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,300.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,025.00 price target (up from $900.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $881.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,048.55.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 292 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total transaction of $297,124.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $3,080,123.85. This trade represents a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 336 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total value of $341,896.80. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,408,026.60. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,410 shares of company stock valued at $15,821,524. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 497 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 459 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 2,622 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in ServiceNow by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 302 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onefund LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 552 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServiceNow Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $202.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $843.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $969.61.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.26. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow, Inc provides end to-end intelligent workflow automation platform solutions for digital businesses in the North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Now platform for end-to-end digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, process mining, performance analytics, and collaboration and development tools.