Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,556 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $13,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,077,547 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $8,118,867,000 after purchasing an additional 226,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in ServiceNow by 9.9% during the 3rd 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. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 499,668.1% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,268,731,000 after buying an additional 4,771,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,211,901 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,753,828,000 after acquiring an additional 78,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 615,797 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NYSE:NOW opened at $985.67 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,070.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $971.00. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52 week low of $637.99 and a 52 week high of $1,198.09. The stock has a market cap of $203.05 billion, a PE ratio of 144.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on NOW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,210.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,129.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.46, for a total transaction of $419,340.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,335,828.12. This trade represents a 23.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 81 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,016.54, for a total value of $82,339.74. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,956,183.22. The trade was a 1.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,257 shares of company stock valued at $23,579,376 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.