Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Buys 14,267 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 392.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,905 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,267 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $2,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 200.0% during the third quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 187.5% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting ServiceNow

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reinstated ServiceNow with a Buy rating and $130 price target, saying the company is well positioned for the agentic AI era. BofA Reinstates Coverage of ServiceNow, Salesforce. It Says 1 Is an AI Beneficiary.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media reports said concerns about AI disrupting ServiceNow may be overblown and that AI could instead strengthen its enterprise workflow business. ServiceNow Stock Has Been Battered By AI Disruption Worries. These Experts Think AI Will Actually Boost Its Business
• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow’s partnership with Experian and its new AI governance products support the view that the company is becoming more central to enterprise AI infrastructure. ServiceNow (NOW) Partners With Experian to Power Autonomous AI Agents With Trusted Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader software-sector strength is also helping NOW, as investors rotate back into beaten-down application software names. ServiceNow’s stock heads for best day in a year — flashing a green light for the software sector
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports still point to lingering valuation and “SaaSpocalypse” concerns, suggesting the rebound may not be fully settled yet. ServiceNow stock flashes a death cross amid rising SaaSpocalypse concerns

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NOW stock opened at $101.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $104.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.61, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.72 and its 200 day moving average is $127.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.24 and a 52-week high of $211.48.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.97. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 18.16%. ServiceNow’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Paul Fipps sold 3,696 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.77, for a total value of $376,141.92. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $820,367.97. The trade was a 31.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total transaction of $130,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 44,930 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,243.90. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,767 shares of company stock valued at $2,906,098. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOW. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServiceNow currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.89.

ServiceNow Profile

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.