Guggenheim Issues Positive Forecast for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Guggenheim from $716.00 to $724.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sell" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Guggenheim's price target would suggest a potential downside of 23.47% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,010.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,025.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,200.00 to $970.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,032.94.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of ServiceNow stock traded up $7.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $946.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,886,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,540. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $838.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $967.71. ServiceNow has a fifty-two week low of $637.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09. The firm has a market cap of $195.84 billion, a PE ratio of 138.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. On average, analysts forecast that ServiceNow will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 415 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,007.41, for a total value of $418,075.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,749,871.17. The trade was a 19.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.61, for a total value of $284,831.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,435,554.47. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,250 shares of company stock worth $19,853,273. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,367 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd grew its position in ServiceNow by 58.6% during the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 1,083 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Smith Salley Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 1st quarter worth about $1,811,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,846 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. 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.