ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,100,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the February 28th total of 3,350,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $716.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,230.00 to $1,050.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,087.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total value of $1,287,123.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,564.50. The trade was a 32.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total value of $481,635.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOW. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,771,830 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,603,360,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 154,255.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 666,815 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 666,383 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth $682,468,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in ServiceNow by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,169,531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,834,797,000 after buying an additional 615,797 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $774.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $933.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $982.64. The company has a market cap of $159.45 billion, a PE ratio of 113.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. ServiceNow has a 12 month low of $637.99 and a 12 month high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. Research analysts expect that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.