ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty-seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,100.31.

A number of research firms recently commented on NOW. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,048.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,210.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,275.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $823.35 on Friday. ServiceNow has a 12-month low of $637.99 and a 12-month high of $1,198.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $975.24 and its 200 day moving average is $983.49. 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 stock has a market cap of $169.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total transaction of $2,720,355.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,370,654.28. This represents a 44.66 % 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, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total value of $481,635.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $3,204,200.58. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth $4,504,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $268,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $87,593,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,568 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. 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.