ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Up 14.3% on Analyst Upgrade

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) shares were up 14.3% on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $1,050.00 to $1,075.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. ServiceNow traded as high as $942.74 and last traded at $929.00. Approximately 2,578,078 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,493,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $812.70.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,210.00 to $1,100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of ServiceNow from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $990.00 to $950.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,426.00 to $1,082.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,032.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 354 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,435,554.47. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,370,654.28. This trade represents a 44.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,250 shares of company stock worth $19,853,273. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 725.0% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServiceNow Stock Up 15.0 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $840.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $967.11. 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 market capitalization of $193.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.97, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.78 by ($1.47). ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management 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.

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