J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Buys 29,993 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. by 78.8% in Q2, now holding 68,051 shares valued at approximately $69.96 million.
• Insider transactions showed a significant reduction in ownership, with CFO Gina Mastantuono and General Counsel Russell S. Elmer selling shares valued at over $3 million in total.
• ServiceNow reported a strong earnings performance in Q2 with $4.09 earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations and achieving a 22.4% year-over-year revenue growth.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 78.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,051 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,993 shares during the period. ServiceNow makes up 1.2% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in ServiceNow were worth $69,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NOW. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 113.3% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 32 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 620.0% during the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 36 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 1,762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $866.45, for a total transaction of $1,526,684.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 12,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,594,950.60. This represents a 12.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $884.26, for a total transaction of $1,501,473.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 4,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,830,614.32. This represents a 28.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,737 shares of company stock valued at $16,798,825 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $912.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $917.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $928.31. ServiceNow, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $678.66 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09. The firm has a market cap of $189.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOW. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,300.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Monday, August 4th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ServiceNow from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,122.20.

ServiceNow 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.

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