Gradient Investments LLC Increases Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Gradient Investments increased its ServiceNow stake by 39.9% in the second quarter, adding 74,064 shares to hold 259,557 shares worth approximately $25.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.18% of the company.
• ServiceNow reported quarterly EPS of $0.90, exceeding estimates of $0.86, while revenue rose 24% year over year to $3.99 billion. The stock opened at $124.91, up 6.4%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $143.39, although some insiders recently sold shares.

Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,557 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 74,064 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in ServiceNow were worth $25,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow by 404.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,963,384 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $15,619,771,000 after purchasing an additional 81,752,460 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 406.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,896,597 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $7,337,280,000 after purchasing an additional 38,441,898 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 371.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,395,663 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,962,692,000 after purchasing an additional 25,517,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,512,428 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,591,425,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 335.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,733,483 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,482,543,000 after purchasing an additional 17,514,679 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServiceNow Stock Up 6.4%

ServiceNow stock opened at $124.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $106.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.86. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.24 and a 1-year high of $194.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.07, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.04. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 11.34%.The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut ServiceNow from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citic Securities reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $168.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their price objective on ServiceNow from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total value of $1,482,352.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,090 shares in the company, valued at $2,712,312.60. This trade represents a 35.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total transaction of $130,845.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,930 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,243.90. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,993 shares of company stock worth $1,716,436 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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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