Empire Life Investments Inc. Increases Stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. has increased its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. by 251.2%, owning a total of 12,668 shares valued at approximately $10.1 million as of its latest filing.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their holdings in ServiceNow, with ING Groep NV leading the way by increasing its stake by 448% during the first quarter.
• ServiceNow reported earnings of $4.09 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, and its revenue was up 22.4% year-over-year at $3.22 billion.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 251.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,668 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,061 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $10,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 448.0% during the first quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 253,804 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $202,064,000 after buying an additional 207,493 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the first quarter worth about $350,000. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Allianz SE boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 285.3% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 9,375 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $7,464,000 after acquiring an additional 6,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 9.9% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 54,303 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $43,232,000 after acquiring an additional 4,906 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOW has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays set a $1,210.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of ServiceNow from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $950.00 to $1,200.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ServiceNow has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,115.20.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In related news, Director Lawrence Jackson sold 757 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $990.50, for a total transaction of $749,808.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $582,414. This trade represents a 56.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 292 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $985.00, for a total transaction of $287,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,030,030. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,990 shares of company stock valued at $6,047,567 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOW opened at $914.03 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $994.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $949.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $190.12 billion, a PE ratio of 115.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.93. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1 year low of $678.66 and a 1 year high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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