Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 738 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd has reduced its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. by 16.3%, owning 3,800 shares worth approximately $3,058,000 after selling 738 shares in the first quarter.
• Gross hedge fund ownership of ServiceNow stands at 87.18%, with other firms like SageView Advisory Group and UBS asset management significantly increasing their stakes during the same period.
• Analysts have upgraded ServiceNow to a "strong buy," with the average price target rising to $1,115.20, reflecting optimism about the company's future performance.

Plato Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,800 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in ServiceNow were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NOW. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 87,501.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,689,361 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,141,108,000 after buying an additional 2,686,291 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the first quarter worth approximately $1,817,535,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 1,586.5% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 933,209 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $742,965,000 after buying an additional 877,875 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 131.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,480,526 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,178,706,000 after buying an additional 840,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the first quarter worth approximately $519,806,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ServiceNow stock traded down $8.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $930.04. 711,066 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,699,172. 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 company has a market cap of $193.45 billion, a PE ratio of 117.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $929.66 and a 200-day moving average of $922.41. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $678.66 and a 12 month high of $1,198.09.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOW. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $724.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,300.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,160.00 to $1,234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,115.20.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $866.45, for a total value of $1,353,394.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,622,744.15. This represents a 34.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,698 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $884.26, for a total value of $1,501,473.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 4,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,830,614.32. This trade represents a 28.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,976 shares of company stock valued at $17,049,775 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

About ServiceNow

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.