ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $814.00 to $830.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. 1,080,854 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the previous session’s volume of 1,183,331 shares.The stock last traded at $702.41 and had previously closed at $746.29.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $750.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $765.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on ServiceNow from $750.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on ServiceNow from $885.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $782.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,795 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.06, for a total value of $1,402,002.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 994 shares in the company, valued at $776,373.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other ServiceNow news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 5,030 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.08, for a total value of $3,787,992.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,177 shares in the company, valued at $12,935,655.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.06, for a total transaction of $1,402,002.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $776,373.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,164 shares of company stock worth $9,940,303. Company insiders own 0.25% 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 stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.9% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,132 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in ServiceNow by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 1,664 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 7.1% during the first quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,221 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 4.9% in the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 387 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServiceNow Stock Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $148.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $759.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $707.90.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The information technology services provider reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.34. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 20.34%. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 6.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About ServiceNow

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.