ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Needham & Company LLC Analyst Says

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its price target raised 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 brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.82% from the company’s current price.

NOW has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $900.00 to $960.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,000.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,117.86.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $1,144.86 on Thursday. ServiceNow has a 52 week low of $637.99 and a 52 week high of $1,198.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,082.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $950.94. The stock has a market cap of $235.84 billion, a PE ratio of 178.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.99.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by ($1.74). ServiceNow had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 12.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other ServiceNow news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 12,271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.67, for a total value of $12,242,408.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,953.65. This represents a 82.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total transaction of $481,635.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,204,200.58. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,731 shares of company stock valued at $21,016,751 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the third quarter valued at $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in ServiceNow by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 39 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by 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.