ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• ServiceNow, Inc. has an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 34 analysts, with 29 recommending buy, 3 hold, and 1 sell rating.
• The company reported a revenue of $3.22 billion for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates and marking a 22.4% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• Insider selling activity was notable, with CEO William R. Mcdermott and Director Anita M. Sands reducing their positions, selling shares collectively worth over $6.34 million.

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-four analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,115.20.

Several research firms recently commented on NOW. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $724.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered ServiceNow from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on ServiceNow from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

NYSE:NOW traded down $8.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $930.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 711,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,580,307. ServiceNow has a fifty-two week low of $678.66 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09. The firm's 50 day moving average is $929.66 and its 200-day moving average is $922.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $193.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.91.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. ServiceNow's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 1,097 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.11, for a total value of $1,003,875.67. Following the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,516,928.77. This trade represents a 10.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 5,825 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.63, for a total transaction of $5,339,369.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,614 shares in the company, valued at $6,062,590.82. This represents a 46.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,976 shares of company stock valued at $17,049,775 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 113.3% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 32 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 620.0% in the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 36 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company's stock.

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.