Ameriprise Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,049,032 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 66,501 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $1,112,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NOW. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 725.0% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 2,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,012.09, for a total transaction of $2,541,357.99. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,373.88. The trade was a 36.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,007.41, for a total transaction of $418,075.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,749,871.17. This trade represents a 19.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,618 shares of company stock worth $21,132,878. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ServiceNow Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $977.24 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $637.99 and a 1 year high of $1,198.09. The company has a market cap of $202.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.08, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $839.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $968.38.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.26. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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 buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NOW. Citigroup reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $1,426.00 to $1,082.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,275.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $990.00 to $950.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,041.00.

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.