ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price Up 6.4% – Here’s Why

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price traded up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $126.15 and last traded at $124.9110. Approximately 25,486,291 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 24,041,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $248.00 price objective on ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC cut their price target on ServiceNow from $226.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Guggenheim upgraded ServiceNow from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America began coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citic Securities dropped their price objective on ServiceNow from $168.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.39.

ServiceNow Stock Up 6.4%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.86. The stock has a market cap of $129.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.04. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 11.34%.The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total value of $1,482,352.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,312.60. This represents a 35.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total value of $130,845.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,919,243.90. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,993 shares of company stock worth $1,716,436. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,536,615,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 404.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,963,384 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,619,771,000 after purchasing an additional 81,752,460 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 406.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,896,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,337,280,000 after purchasing an additional 38,441,898 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 371.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,395,663 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,962,692,000 after purchasing an additional 25,517,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,512,428 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,591,425,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

About ServiceNow

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.