Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 24 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BostonPremier Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at about $436,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 17,617 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $18,676,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $294,000. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 12,271 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.67, for a total value of $12,242,408.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,588,953.65. This represents a 82.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,010.46, for a total value of $419,340.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,335,828.12. This trade represents a 23.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,257 shares of company stock worth $23,579,376 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $989.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $203.88 billion, a PE ratio of 144.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,075.99 and a 200 day moving average of $969.56. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52 week low of $637.99 and a 52 week high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,070.00 to $1,210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $716.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,129.72.

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.