ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• ServiceNow has been upgraded to a strong-buy rating by Zacks Research, reflecting increased confidence from analysts in the company's potential for growth.
• The stock has seen a notable price target increase, with firms like Needham & Company and Morgan Stanley raising their targets to $1,200.00 and $1,250.00, respectively.
• ServiceNow reported strong quarterly earnings, with $4.09 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' estimates and indicating a 22.4% year-over-year revenue increase.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

NOW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded ServiceNow from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $1,040.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,121.37.

ServiceNow Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NOW stock opened at $912.15 on Monday. ServiceNow has a 52-week low of $678.66 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.73 billion, a PE ratio of 114.88, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $909.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $933.73.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. ServiceNow's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that ServiceNow will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $866.45, for a total value of $1,353,394.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,622,744.15. This trade represents a 34.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 1,762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $866.45, for a total transaction of $1,526,684.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,594,950.60. The trade was a 12.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,737 shares of company stock worth $16,798,825 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,589,235,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,817,535,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1,586.5% during the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 933,209 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $742,965,000 after acquiring an additional 877,875 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 131.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,480,526 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,178,706,000 after acquiring an additional 840,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the first quarter valued at approximately $519,806,000. Institutional investors 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.

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