Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Salem Investment Counselors raised its stake in ServiceNow by 401.5% in Q4, acquiring 17,999 shares to hold 22,482 shares valued at about $3.44 million.
• ServiceNow beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $0.92 (vs. $0.89) and revenue of $3.57 billion (+20.7% YoY), and analysts carry a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $192.61.
• Insiders have sold 16,237 shares (~$1.7M) in the past 90 days while institutional investors own roughly 87.18% of the stock and insiders only 0.34%, indicating heavy institutional ownership despite recent insider selling.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 401.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,482 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,999 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $3,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOW. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in ServiceNow during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 200.0% in the third quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 31 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at $29,000. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ServiceNow Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $110.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $115.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.46, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.99. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.00 and a 12 month high of $211.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.12.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The information technology services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 13.16%.The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Kevin Thomas Mcbride sold 1,400 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.71, for a total transaction of $147,994.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,781,652.94. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.17, for a total transaction of $151,755.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,430 shares in the company, valued at $4,697,323.10. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,237 shares of company stock worth $1,697,162. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on NOW shares. Arete Research set a $200.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $230.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of ServiceNow from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Guggenheim upgraded ServiceNow from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 price target (down from $225.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $192.61.

Key Stories Impacting ServiceNow

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst reaffirmation and bullish outlook — Citizens reiterated a Market Outperform rating and $260 price target, citing ServiceNow’s customer relationships, architecture and its “AI Control Tower” positioning for the agentic era. This endorsement supports longer-term upside expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Platform ecosystem expansion — Novaworks launched an AI-native HCM operating system built on ServiceNow and raised an $8M seed round with participation from ServiceNow Ventures, extending ServiceNow’s Total Workforce Management narrative and increasing potential monetization paths for HR use-cases on the core platform. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor conviction pieces argue buy-the-dip — multiple retail-focused pieces make the case that ServiceNow’s workflow moat and proprietary data make it resilient versus AI disruption, helping attract buyers during the broader SaaS sell-off. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative analyst pieces highlight both opportunity and competition — coverage comparing MongoDB (MDB) and ServiceNow notes both ride enterprise AI demand but differ on growth visibility and monetization pace; the pieces underline upside potential but also competitive dynamics to monitor. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ticker/name noise from unrelated firms — a separate firm (NowVertical, TSXV: NOW) announced an engagement expansion; investors should note this is a different company but it can create occasional search/ticker noise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Sectorwide AI/SaaS pressure remains a headwind — articles and market commentary note an ongoing SaaS sell-off driven by AI disruption fears; even high-quality names like ServiceNow can trade lower or underperform near-term while investors reassess multiples and adoption timing. Article Title

ServiceNow Profile

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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