ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Stake Lifted by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,749 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,349 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $38,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,539 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,872,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,296,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 11,189 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $11,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 824,725 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $874,258,000 after purchasing an additional 12,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,280.00 to $1,025.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $975.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target (up previously from $970.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,060.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,055.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 191 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $985.00, for a total value of $188,135.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,267,020. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total transaction of $4,285,197.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at $10,733,252.20. This trade represents a 28.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,844 shares of company stock worth $14,204,938. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ServiceNow Stock Up 3.6%

ServiceNow stock opened at $1,015.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $846.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. ServiceNow’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.