Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.62% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,070.00 to $1,210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded ServiceNow from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $860.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ServiceNow from $900.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $1,230.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,129.93.

ServiceNow Trading Down 11.5 %

ServiceNow stock traded down $131.96 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,011.67. The stock had a trading volume of 6,194,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,655,496. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.40 billion, a PE ratio of 157.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,085.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $952.30. ServiceNow has a twelve month low of $637.99 and a twelve month high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.67 by ($1.74). ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 16.03%. Analysts expect that ServiceNow will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 76 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.94, for a total value of $76,831.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $3,060,115.38. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 2,229 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.60, for a total value of $2,372,993.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,710,600. This trade represents a 16.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,731 shares of company stock valued at $21,016,751. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in ServiceNow by 77.3% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 39 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 46.7% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 44 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.