Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases 172,131 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its ServiceNow stake by 318.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 172,131 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 226,177 shares worth about $34.6 million.
• Several other institutions also added to ServiceNow positions, and institutional investors now own 87.18% of the company, underscoring continued broad interest in the stock.
• ServiceNow reported quarterly EPS of $0.97 in line with estimates and revenue of $3.77 billion, while analysts remain generally bullish with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $141.85.

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 318.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,177 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 172,131 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in ServiceNow were worth $34,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in ServiceNow by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 552 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 2.1% in the third quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 634 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 1.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 3.5% in the third quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 385 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Abbot Financial Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 2.9% in the third quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServiceNow news, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total value of $103,238.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,212.72. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total value of $1,482,352.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,712,312.60. This represents a 35.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $124.56 on Friday. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.24 and a 12-month high of $211.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50-day moving average price is $98.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.74. The stock has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a PE ratio of 74.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.82.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 12.59%.The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow is benefiting from a sector-wide rebound in software stocks after Snowflake’s strong earnings suggested AI is more of an opportunity than a threat for enterprise platforms. ServiceNow (NOW) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also responding to ServiceNow’s expanding AI narrative, including its position as a key platform for agentic AI workflows and enterprise automation. ServiceNow's stock soars toward historic month as AI fears fade across software
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage calling ServiceNow a buy at current levels and setting a higher price target is adding to the bullish sentiment around the stock’s valuation reset. Buy, Hold, or Sell: Is This Cloud Automation Juggernaut a Steal Following Its Massive Valuation Reset?
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum from partnerships and AI-related headlines, including Wipro’s expanded ServiceNow collaboration, is reinforcing the company’s relevance in enterprise automation. Wipro stock gains 4%: can its ServiceNow tie-up drive growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options activity suggests traders are positioning for continued volatility in ServiceNow shares. ServiceNow Sees Unusually High Options Volume NYSE: NOW

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore raised their price target on ServiceNow from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $236.00 price target (up from $226.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded ServiceNow from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on ServiceNow from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.85.

ServiceNow Profile

ServiceNow NYSE: NOW is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company's flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.

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