Appleton Partners Inc. MA Grows Position in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 18.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,057 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,168 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $6,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 404.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 81,752,460 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in ServiceNow by 406.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,896,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,337,280,000 after purchasing an additional 38,441,898 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in ServiceNow by 371.0% in 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 buying an additional 25,517,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 404.8% during 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 buying an additional 18,854,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 17,514,679 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServiceNow News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim upgraded ServiceNow to Buy, saying AI fears have been overdone and that the stock offers meaningful upside from current levels. ServiceNow (NOW) Rating Upgraded by Guggenheim to Buy from Neutral
• Positive Sentiment: Other commentary framed ServiceNow as a “golden opportunity” for patient investors, reinforcing the view that the recent selloff may be excessive relative to its growth outlook. ServiceNow (NOW): A Golden Opportunity for Patient Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight demand for ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower and AI-enabled workflow tools, which supports the company’s long-term growth narrative. ServiceNow Trades at Premium Valuation: How to Play the Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discuss ServiceNow’s premium valuation, which may limit near-term upside even as growth remains solid. Does Guggenheim’s Upgrade Reframe ServiceNow (NOW) as an AI Workflow Enabler Rather Than a Disruption Risk?
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports still point to concerns about AI disruption, delayed large deal closures, acquisition-related margin pressure, and overall valuation risk, which could temper enthusiasm. ServiceNow Stock Plunges 50% — Why NOW Stock Is a Buy Here

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $1,482,352.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,090 shares in the company, valued at $2,712,312.60. This trade represents a 35.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,189,212.72. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $195.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research set a $125.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citic Securities lowered their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $168.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.68.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $106.06 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.53 and a 200 day moving average of $112.60. The stock has a market cap of $109.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.96. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.24 and a 12 month high of $211.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.97. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 12.59%.ServiceNow’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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.