Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,659 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $18,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOW. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in ServiceNow by 499,668.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,268,731,000 after purchasing an additional 4,771,830 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 216.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,367,875 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,206,178,000 after buying an additional 935,848 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in ServiceNow by 24.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,169,531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,797,000 after buying an additional 615,797 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,606,394 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,014,302,000 after buying an additional 502,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,352,111 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,493,520,000 after acquiring an additional 348,187 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NOW stock opened at $922.14 on Wednesday. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52-week low of $637.99 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $189.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,046.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $981.50.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 2,511 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,012.09, for a total value of $2,541,357.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 4,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,373.88. The trade was a 36.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total transaction of $1,287,123.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,564.50. This trade represents a 32.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,706 shares of company stock valued at $17,644,106. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NOW. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,210.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,129.72.

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.