Banco Santander S.A. Buys 17,649 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

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. lifted its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 56.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,098 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing 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.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in ServiceNow by 113.3% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 32 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in ServiceNow by 620.0% in the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 36 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServiceNow Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE NOW traded up $5.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $911.07. 1,067,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,683,416. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.74, a PEG ratio of 4.16 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $990.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $947.93. ServiceNow, Inc. has a twelve month low of $678.66 and a twelve month high of $1,198.09.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NOW. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on ServiceNow from $975.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,115.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In related news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $1,194,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,060,000. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 2,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,012.01, for a total value of $2,074,620.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,693,434.14. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,990 shares of company stock valued at $6,047,567 in the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.