Cozad Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 302 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the third quarter valued at about $480,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the third quarter valued at about $58,000. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 7.5% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 959 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the third quarter valued at about $2,806,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 1.1% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 33,833 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,260,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 336 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,408,026.60. This trade represents a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total value of $481,635.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NOW. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,432.00 to $1,426.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $716.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp cut ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,100.31.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

NYSE NOW opened at $830.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $171.00 billion, a PE ratio of 121.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $983.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.60. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.