Eastern Bank Boosts Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Key Points

• Earnings Performance: ServiceNow reported an EPS of $4.09 for the quarter, exceeding forecasts by $0.52, and achieved revenue of $3.22 billion, surpassing analyst estimates.
• Institutional Investment: Eastern Bank increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 0.9%, while other investors like Bogart Wealth LLC and WASHINGTON TRUST Co saw substantial increases in their positions during the first quarter.
• Analyst Ratings: The average rating for ServiceNow is "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $1,115.20; notable upgrades from Citigroup and Stifel have raised price targets significantly recently.

Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,771 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 511 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in ServiceNow were worth $43,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 136.5% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 9,003 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $7,168,000 after buying an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow by 8.3% in the first quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors increased its position in ServiceNow by 2.0% during the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 8,067 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,422,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in ServiceNow during the first quarter valued at $9,118,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 94.5% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 992 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,013.61, for a total transaction of $433,825.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,039,226.51. This represents a 3.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 1,171 shares of the firm's 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 represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,990 shares of company stock worth $6,047,567 over the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on NOW shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,115.20.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NYSE NOW traded down $34.65 on Thursday, reaching $942.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,122,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,486,271. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $678.66 and a 12 month high of $1,198.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.11 billion, a PE ratio of 118.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $996.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $951.56. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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.