ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Up 1.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) traded up 1.1% during trading on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $975.00 to $1,060.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. ServiceNow traded as high as $960.00 and last traded at $949.10. 900,696 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 1,504,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $938.57.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NOW. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,100.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays set a $969.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,003.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,032.94.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,733,252.20. This represents a 28.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 2,511 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,012.09, for a total transaction of $2,541,357.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 4,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,384,373.88. The trade was a 36.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,250 shares of company stock valued at $19,853,273 over the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOW. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in ServiceNow by 620.0% in the 1st quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 36 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ServiceNow Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $195.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.52, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08. 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 fifty day moving average price of $838.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $967.87.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.