Ethic Inc. Reduces Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. has reduced its stake in ServiceNow, selling 648 shares during the first quarter, which brings their total holdings down to 25,099 shares valued at approximately $20.37 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on ServiceNow, with several raising their price targets, including Jefferies Financial Group increasing theirs from $1,025 to $1,150 and JPMorgan reducing it from $1,200 to $970.
• ServiceNow reported a quarterly revenue of $3.22 billion, beating analysts' estimates and marking a 22.4% increase from the same quarter last year.

Ethic Inc. lessened its position in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,099 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $20,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOW. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 9,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 91 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,334 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $239,100,000 after purchasing an additional 13,154 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 7.9% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $5,337,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the first quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ServiceNow news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 239 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.00, for a total value of $250,950.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,404 shares in the company, valued at $10,924,200. This trade represents a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 67 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $860.57, for a total value of $57,658.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,604,945.39. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,738 shares of company stock valued at $5,713,973 over the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ServiceNow Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE NOW traded up $16.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $866.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,758,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,190. The company has a market capitalization of $180.31 billion, a PE ratio of 109.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $678.66 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $967.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $933.60.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. ServiceNow's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NOW. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,150.00 target price (up previously from $1,100.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson upped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,110.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.