Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Forecast for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $1,230.00 to $1,050.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price points to a potential upside of 26.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James began coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,300.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut shares of ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,275.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,100.31.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $830.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $171.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. ServiceNow has a twelve month low of $637.99 and a twelve month high of $1,198.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $983.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $985.60.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. As a group, analysts predict that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total transaction of $4,285,197.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,733,252.20. The trade was a 28.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total transaction of $481,635.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $3,204,200.58. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 499,668.1% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,268,731,000 after purchasing an additional 4,771,830 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $2,603,360,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in ServiceNow by 216.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,367,875 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,206,178,000 after purchasing an additional 935,848 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 154,255.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 666,815 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 666,383 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $682,468,000. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.