Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Raises Stock Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC has significantly increased its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. by 99.7% in the first quarter, owning 2,057 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million.
• Analysts have given ServiceNow an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $1,115.20, following recent adjustments including a boost from Citigroup to $1,234.00.
• In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,990 shares of ServiceNow stock, highlighting movements in ownership among top executives, including a notable sale by CEO William R. McDermott valued at over $2 million.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 99.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,057 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in ServiceNow were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 6.8% during 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 buying an additional 509,467 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,878,900 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,232,339,000 after buying an additional 272,506 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 87,501.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,686,291 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,654,825 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,814,433,000 after buying an additional 87,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,343,840 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,484,752,000 after buying an additional 109,293 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServiceNow from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $724.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,003.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,115.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 292 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $985.00, for a total transaction of $287,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 11,198 shares in the company, valued at $11,030,030. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 428 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,013.61, for a total value of $433,825.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,039,226.51. This represents a 3.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,990 shares of company stock worth $6,047,567. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NOW stock traded up $7.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $922.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,285,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,623,128. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $994.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $949.28. 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 company has a market cap 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. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52-week low of $678.66 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.