StockNews.com Downgrades ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) to Hold

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other research firms have also commented on NOW. Barclays increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $765.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $820.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $750.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $800.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $782.85.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

NYSE NOW traded up $6.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $722.94. 1,445,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,216,659. The company has a market cap of $148.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.97. ServiceNow has a 12-month low of $427.68 and a 12-month high of $815.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $759.21 and a 200 day moving average of $707.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The information technology services provider reported $3.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.34. ServiceNow had a net margin of 20.34% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServiceNow will post 6.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In related news, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,795 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.06, for a total transaction of $1,402,002.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,373.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 5,030 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.08, for a total transaction of $3,787,992.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,935,655.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.06, for a total transaction of $1,402,002.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $776,373.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,164 shares of company stock worth $9,940,303. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in ServiceNow by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its position in ServiceNow by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in ServiceNow by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 60 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its position in ServiceNow by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 815 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 190 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

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.