Raymond James Financial Inc. Raises Stake in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in ServiceNow by 9.5% in the first quarter, owning 406,982 shares valued at approximately $324 million by the end of the reporting period.
• ServiceNow reported strong earnings, with $4.09 earnings per share in its latest quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.52, and a year-over-year revenue growth of 22.4%.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for ServiceNow, with JMP Securities setting a target of $1,300 and Wells Fargo raising theirs to $1,225, reflecting positive sentiment around the stock.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 406,982 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 35,451 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.20% of ServiceNow worth $324,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in ServiceNow by 113.3% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 32 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in ServiceNow by 620.0% in the 1st 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $866.45, for a total transaction of $1,353,394.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $2,622,744.15. This represents a 34.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $860.00, for a total value of $258,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 9,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,501,960. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,361 shares of company stock worth $10,579,976 in the last ninety days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

ServiceNow stock traded up $2.7340 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $889.5140. The stock had a trading volume of 1,270,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,718. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $678.66 and a 12 month high of $1,198.09. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $961.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $931.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.02 billion, a PE ratio of 112.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.52. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 13.78%.The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,003.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, FBN Securities raised shares of ServiceNow to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,115.20.

ServiceNow Company 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.