Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 410,188 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas sharply increased its ServiceNow stake by 429.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 410,188 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 505,757 shares worth about $77.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and institutional ownership stands at 87.18% of ServiceNow’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive but have trimmed targets: ServiceNow has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a $141.85 average target price, while recent quarterly results showed revenue up 22.1% year over year and EPS matching expectations.

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 429.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 505,757 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 410,188 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in ServiceNow were worth $77,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in ServiceNow by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 160 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 165 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 540.0% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 160 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 8,927 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.60, for a total transaction of $799,859.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,645,977.60. This trade represents a 23.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total value of $103,238.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,189,212.72. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $200.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on ServiceNow from $200.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a 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 note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $180.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $141.85.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $99.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.09 billion, a PE ratio of 59.59, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average is $98.26 and its 200-day moving average is $124.67. ServiceNow, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.24 and a fifty-two week high of $211.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. ServiceNow's revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast 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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