ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Trading 2.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s share price traded up 2.1% during trading on Monday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $130.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. ServiceNow traded as high as $107.18 and last traded at $104.2640. 22,701,900 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 24,038,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.15.

NOW has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on ServiceNow from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on ServiceNow from $200.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised ServiceNow from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on ServiceNow from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total transaction of $130,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,919,243.90. This trade represents a 3.23% 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. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 8,927 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.60, for a total value of $799,859.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,645,977.60. The trade was a 23.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,071 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,956. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ServiceNow by 404.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,963,384 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $15,619,771,000 after purchasing an additional 81,752,460 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in ServiceNow by 406.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,896,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,337,280,000 after purchasing an additional 38,441,898 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in ServiceNow by 371.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,395,663 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,962,692,000 after purchasing an additional 25,517,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ServiceNow by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,512,428 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,591,425,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854,775 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 335.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,733,483 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,482,543,000 after acquiring an additional 17,514,679 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServiceNow Stock Up 2.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.94.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted 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. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 12.59%.The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.