ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty-seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,100.31.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $986.00 target price on ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,300.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,275.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total value 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 represents a 32.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total transaction of $4,285,197.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,733,252.20. This trade represents a 28.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD now owns 2,701 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth $48,802,000. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its position in ServiceNow by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,147,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $105,090,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth about $10,071,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServiceNow Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NOW opened at $860.50 on Friday. ServiceNow has a 52-week low of $637.99 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09. The company has a market cap of $177.26 billion, a PE ratio of 125.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $964.71 and a 200 day moving average of $985.75.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServiceNow will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

ServiceNow Company Profile

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.