ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.7% on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $1,025.00 to $1,150.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. ServiceNow traded as high as $1,034.46 and last traded at $1,033.72. Approximately 273,102 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,514,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,026.82.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,128.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,275.00 to $900.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,062.50.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In related news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.61, for a total transaction of $284,831.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,435,554.47. This represents a 10.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 62 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.00, for a total transaction of $63,426.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 4,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,431,636. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,056 shares of company stock valued at $14,421,814 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOW. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 87,501.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,689,361 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,141,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,686,291 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth $2,603,360,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 1st quarter worth $1,817,535,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its stake in ServiceNow by 1,586.5% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 877,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in ServiceNow by 131.4% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 840,731 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Stock Up 0.7%

The business's 50 day moving average is $853.85 and its 200-day moving average is $971.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.97.

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

ServiceNow declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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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