ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on NOW. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,210.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,432.00 to $1,426.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,129.72.

ServiceNow Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $1,021.52 on Tuesday. ServiceNow has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,080.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $966.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.43 billion, a PE ratio of 149.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.99.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 66 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,048.29, for a total transaction of $69,187.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,173,173.83. This represents a 2.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Tzitzon sold 313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.60, for a total value of $333,219.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,884,725.40. This represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,702 shares of company stock valued at $20,965,306. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in ServiceNow by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 729 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in ServiceNow by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 31.4% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 427 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.2% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,089 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 40.8% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 366 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.