HSBC Initiates Coverage on ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW)

HSBC started coverage on shares of ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $704.00 target price on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $515.00 to $630.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $518.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $553.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $640.00 to $650.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $594.79.

ServiceNow Price Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $578.51 on Friday. ServiceNow has a 52 week low of $337.00 and a 52 week high of $614.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $574.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $518.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $117.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 1.01.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The information technology services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.34. ServiceNow had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that ServiceNow will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.99, for a total value of $668,968.77. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,262,350.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.98, for a total transaction of $419,711.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,068,273.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.99, for a total transaction of $668,968.77. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 4,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,262,350.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,951 shares of company stock valued at $10,147,437 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. RB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 25.2% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in ServiceNow by 17.9% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 875 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in ServiceNow by 728.0% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,921 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in ServiceNow by 9.0% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 350 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 0.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,671 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,499,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 87.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow, Inc provides enterprise cloud computing solutions that defines, structures, consolidates, manages, and automates services for enterprises worldwide. The company operates the Now platform for workflow automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, process mining, performance analytics, electronic service catalogs and portals, configuration management systems, data benchmarking, encryption, and collaboration and development tools.