Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $1,060.00 to $1,100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.11% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,025.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James dropped their target price on ServiceNow from $1,200.00 to $1,000.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded ServiceNow from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $969.00 price objective on ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,039.06.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOW traded down $5.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $972.48. 405,682 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,507,257. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. ServiceNow has a 1 year low of $637.99 and a 1 year high of $1,198.09. The company's 50-day moving average is $840.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $969.13. The company has a market capitalization of $201.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.33, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, Director Jeffrey A. Miller sold 2,282 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,030.64, for a total transaction of $2,351,920.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,883,148.32. The trade was a 5.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total value of $1,287,123.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,644,564.50. This trade represents a 32.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,692 shares of company stock worth $18,173,444. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 497 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in ServiceNow by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 459 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in ServiceNow by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 2,622 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 302 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onefund LLC increased its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 552 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.