ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Up 1.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• ServiceNow's stock rose 1.7% to $892.03 with a trading volume significantly lower than its average, indicating a potential slowdown in market activity.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,115.20, reflecting confidence in ServiceNow's growth prospects.
• Recent insider selling saw CFO Gina Mastantuono reduce her stake by 12.59%, raising concerns about insider confidence even as institutional stakeholders continue to increase their holdings.

Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) rose 1.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $896.38 and last traded at $892.03. Approximately 275,153 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,707,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $876.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $975.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,115.20.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $957.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $930.56. The company has a market cap of $184.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 13.78%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $1,526,684.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,228 shares in the company, valued at $10,594,950.60. This trade represents a 12.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,698 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $884.26, for a total value of $1,501,473.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 4,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,830,614.32. The trade was a 28.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,096 shares of company stock valued at $14,807,562. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,895,063 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $20,453,716,000 after acquiring an additional 398,071 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,323,619 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $9,585,426,000 after acquiring an additional 154,307 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,574,563 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,684,445,000 after acquiring an additional 88,057 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 7.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,843,117 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,263,519,000 after acquiring an additional 188,292 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 87,501.3% in the first 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 during the period. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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