Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $311.63 Million Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,957 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,350 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $311,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOW. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 499,668.1% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,268,731,000 after purchasing an additional 4,771,830 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 89,137.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,185,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,059,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,739 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 216.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,367,875 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,206,178,000 after purchasing an additional 935,848 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 24.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,169,531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,797,000 after purchasing an additional 615,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,606,394 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,014,302,000 after purchasing an additional 502,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $985.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $203.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12-month low of $637.99 and a 12-month high of $1,198.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,070.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $972.21.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServiceNow news, insider Nicholas Tzitzon sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.60, for a total transaction of $333,219.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,884,725.40. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 2,229 shares of the 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 owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,710,600. The trade was a 16.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,082 shares of company stock worth $23,401,482. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on ServiceNow from $900.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $900.00 to $960.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,129.72.

ServiceNow 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.