ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Trading Down 2.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) shares were down 2.7% during trading on Wednesday after Macquarie downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. Macquarie now has a $860.00 price target on the stock. ServiceNow traded as low as $799.84 and last traded at $802.9290. Approximately 2,004,253 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 22% from the average daily volume of 1,642,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $825.31.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $1,150.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,234.00 to $1,253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,093.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $1,150.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,075.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,149.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul Fipps sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.55, for a total transaction of $249,352.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 541 shares in the company, valued at $442,294.55. The trade was a 36.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $827.08, for a total transaction of $431,735.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,240. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,665 shares of company stock worth $1,386,791 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in ServiceNow during the second quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in ServiceNow by 200.0% in the 3rd 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. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $168.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $892.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $939.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

ServiceNow shares are going to split before the market opens on Friday, December 5th. The 5-1 split was announced on Wednesday, October 29th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, December 4th.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information technology services provider reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.61. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 13.66%.The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About ServiceNow

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.