Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Sells 1,600 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. trimmed its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,400 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $5,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the third quarter worth $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in ServiceNow by 725.0% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company's stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NYSE:NOW traded down $1.31 on Monday, reaching $843.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,656,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,291. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $992.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $985.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $173.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

Remove Ads

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total transaction of $481,635.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 2,511 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,012.09, for a total transaction of $2,541,357.99. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,384,373.88. This represents a 36.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NOW shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,300.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,210.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $1,048.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,108.03.

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.