ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Trading 1.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s share price shot up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $115.36 and last traded at $114.4320. 19,532,361 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 23,919,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NOW shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on ServiceNow from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on ServiceNow from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp set a $85.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $226.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.85.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.71. The stock has a market cap of $117.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 12.59%.ServiceNow’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total transaction of $103,238.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,212.72. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total value of $1,482,352.30. Following the sale, the director owned 30,090 shares in the company, valued at $2,712,312.60. This trade represents a 35.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,071 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,956. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,919,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 4.2% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 837 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 15.5% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 1,519 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 2.2% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,922 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 205.1% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 906 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.