ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Shares Acquired by Banco Santander S.A.

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in ServiceNow by 56.1%, acquiring 17,649 additional shares, bringing their total ownership to 49,098 shares worth approximately $39.1 million.
• Several hedge funds, including GAMMA Investing LLC and OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd, have significantly boosted their positions in ServiceNow, reflecting a strong interest from institutional investors who now own 87.18% of the company's stock.
• ServiceNow reported $4.09 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.57, along with a revenue increase of 22.4% year-over-year, totaling $3.22 billion.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 56.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,098 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,649 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $39,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NOW. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 valued at $2,141,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686,291 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its position 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 valued at $742,965,000 after purchasing an additional 877,875 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in ServiceNow by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,955,924 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $8,434,235,000 after purchasing an additional 509,467 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in ServiceNow by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,830,419 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,940,464,000 after purchasing an additional 491,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its position in ServiceNow by 96.7% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 723,457 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $575,973,000 after purchasing an additional 355,629 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 1,171 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $1,194,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,060,000. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 292 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $985.00, for a total transaction of $287,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 11,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,030,030. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,990 shares of company stock worth $6,047,567. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

NOW traded up $7.65 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $922.02. 1,285,082 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,623,128. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $994.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $949.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $678.66 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on NOW shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,160.00 to $1,234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,010.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $1,100.00 price objective on ServiceNow and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,115.20.

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.