ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Receives Market Outperform Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market outperform rating on shares of ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $1,300.00 target price on the information technology services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NOW. TD Cowen upped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on ServiceNow from $900.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,129.93.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NOW stock opened at $1,011.67 on Thursday. ServiceNow has a 52-week low of $637.99 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $208.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,085.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $952.30.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by ($1.74). ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 8.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In related news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 66 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,048.29, for a total transaction of $69,187.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,173,173.83. The trade was a 2.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicholas Tzitzon sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.60, for a total transaction of $333,219.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,884,725.40. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,731 shares of company stock worth $21,016,751 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,421,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 8,337.6% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 30,544 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $24,028,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 8.1% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,122,000. Finally, Emprise Bank purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

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.