Aviva PLC Buys 15,798 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Aviva PLC increased its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,345 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,798 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $163,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 381 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 886 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,426,000. Riverwater Partners LLC bought a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 292 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total value of $297,124.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,080,123.85. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total value of $2,720,355.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,654.28. This represents a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,275.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $986.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,086.00.

ServiceNow Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $720.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $917.80 and a 200 day moving average of $979.99. The company has a market capitalization of $148.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. ServiceNow, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $637.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09.

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

ServiceNow declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

ServiceNow Company Profile

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.