Morgan Stanley Boosts ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Price Target to $950.00

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $881.00 to $950.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the information technology services provider's stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on NOW. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $990.00 to $950.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,100.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,426.00 to $1,082.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James dropped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,200.00 to $1,000.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,200.00 to $970.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,032.94.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NOW stock traded up $7.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $946.08. 2,886,611 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,504,540. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. ServiceNow has a 12-month low of $637.99 and a 12-month high of $1,198.09. The stock's 50 day moving average is $838.68 and its 200 day moving average is $967.71. The company has a market cap of $195.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 138.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08.

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

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

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In related news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total transaction of $4,285,197.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,733,252.20. This represents a 28.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 292 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total transaction of $297,124.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,080,123.85. This trade represents a 8.80 % decrease in their position. 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 87,501.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,689,361 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,141,108,000 after buying an additional 2,686,291 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,603,360,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 154,255.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 666,815 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 666,383 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth approximately $682,468,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,955,924 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $8,434,235,000 after purchasing an additional 509,467 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.