Welch & Forbes LLC Makes New $35.40 Million Investment in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Welch & Forbes LLC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 264,142 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,398,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the second quarter worth about $9,536,615,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter valued at $712,573,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter valued at $641,888,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter worth about $627,355,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter worth about $595,157,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $102.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.24 and a 12-month high of $175.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $135.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.69. The company has a market capitalization of $106.77 billion, a PE ratio of 74.00, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The information technology services provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 9.36%. ServiceNow’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.82 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul Chamberlain sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.50, for a total transaction of $365,850.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,960,645. This represents a 5.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Fipps sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.87, for a total transaction of $300,767.58. Following the sale, the insider owned 18,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,706,760.35. This represents a 10.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,081 shares of company stock valued at $1,937,904. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, October 29th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, October 29th. CLSA initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Barclays set a $152.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.50.

ServiceNow Profile

ServiceNow, Inc provides cloud-based software that helps organizations manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Founded in 2004 by Fred Luddy, the company began with a focus on IT service management and has expanded its platform to support a range of enterprise operations.

Its products include tools for IT service and operations management, customer service, human resources, security, and application development. ServiceNow also offers artificial intelligence capabilities, including tools designed to help organizations automate tasks and find information across workflows.

ServiceNow serves businesses and public-sector organizations around the world.