Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 47,245 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 292,770 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,245 shares during the period. ServiceNow comprises about 1.4% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned 0.14% of ServiceNow worth $310,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD now owns 2,701 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,802,000. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,147,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in ServiceNow by 36.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth $105,090,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $850.54 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,017.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $985.92. 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 $175.21 billion, a PE ratio of 124.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. ServiceNow, Inc. has a twelve month low of $637.99 and a twelve month high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total transaction of $481,635.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total transaction of $341,896.80. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,408,026.60. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,129.72.

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.