Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Increases Stock Position in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Ameritas Investment Partners boosted its ServiceNow stake by 497% in the fourth quarter, ending with 34,175 shares worth about $5.2 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on ServiceNow, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $141.85, though several firms have recently lowered their targets.
• ServiceNow posted strong quarterly results, with revenue up 22.1% year over year to $3.77 billion and EPS of $0.97 meeting estimates, even as the stock traded lower and insiders continued selling shares.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 497.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,175 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,451 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $5,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its position in ServiceNow by 187.5% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $175.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of ServiceNow from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $226.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $125.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total value of $103,238.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,212.72. This represents a 7.99% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $1,482,352.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,090 shares in the company, valued at $2,712,312.60. The trade was a 35.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ServiceNow News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow announced a new AI hiring-agent partnership with Phenom, which could strengthen its workplace automation offerings and support future enterprise demand. Phenom Partners with ServiceNow to Introduce AI Hiring Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said ServiceNow demand remains resilient despite global uncertainty, pointing to AI growth, pricing power, and a potential long-term revenue path that supports the investment case. ServiceNow Demand Remains Resilient Despite Global Uncertainty: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow and NICE launched an AI solution linking customer engagement with enterprise workflows, a partnership that could deepen the company’s platform value and expand use cases. ServiceNow NICE AI Alliance Links Customer Engagement To Core Workflows
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks said investors have been heavily searching for ServiceNow, highlighting elevated trader interest, but the note did not include a major fundamental catalyst. Investors Heavily Search ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): Here is What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer said ServiceNow is “expensive,” reinforcing valuation concerns that may be limiting upside even as the business remains strong. Jim Cramer on ServiceNow: “It’s Expensive, That’s the Problem”
• Negative Sentiment: TechCrunch reported that a bug exposed some customer data to the internet, and other security articles said the vulnerability was exploited against some customers. That raises a potential trust and compliance risk for the platform. ServiceNow tells customers a bug left some of their data exposed to the internet

ServiceNow Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $106.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.24 and a 12-month high of $211.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.33, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $99.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.59.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. ServiceNow's revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow NYSE: NOW is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company's flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.

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