Aberdeen Group plc Trims Stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has reduced its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. by 34.9%, now holding 287,541 shares worth approximately $224.77 million.
• Institutional investors own 87.18% of ServiceNow's stock, with several funds increasing their positions during the first quarter of the year.
• ServiceNow's recent earnings report exceeded expectations, with $4.09 earnings per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.57, and a revenue of $3.22 billion, indicating a 22.4% year-over-year growth.

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 287,541 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 154,005 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.14% of ServiceNow worth $224,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in ServiceNow by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,919,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth about $576,000. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth about $341,000. Capital Square LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 701 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 406 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lawrence Jackson sold 757 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $990.50, for a total transaction of $749,808.50. Following the sale, the director owned 588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $582,414. The trade was a 56.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 84 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $860.57, for a total transaction of $72,287.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,572 shares in the company, valued at $9,958,516.04. The trade was a 0.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,738 shares of company stock worth $5,713,973. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ServiceNow Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NOW stock traded up $16.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $866.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,758,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,190. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $967.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $935.06. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52-week low of $678.66 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.31 billion, a PE ratio of 109.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,060.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. FBN Securities raised shares of ServiceNow to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $724.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,115.20.

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.