ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Up 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price was up 2.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $843.52 and last traded at $827.36. Approximately 853,554 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 1,758,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $808.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NOW. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,210.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,210.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $716.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,114.24.

ServiceNow Stock Up 4.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,006.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $985.52. The company has a market cap of $174.49 billion, a PE ratio of 124.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 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, analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total transaction of $2,720,355.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,654.28. This represents a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total value of $4,285,197.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,733,252.20. This represents a 28.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 725.0% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.