Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Acquires 220 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 314.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NOW. Quarry LP acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 725.0% in the 4th 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 stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $1,040.22 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $215.33 billion, a PE ratio of 152.30, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.97. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12-month low of $637.99 and a 12-month high of $1,198.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $863.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $973.56.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NOW. Truist Financial raised ServiceNow from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $950.00 to $1,200.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,003.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays set a $1,085.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,010.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,062.50.

Insider Activity

In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 62 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.00, for a total value of $63,426.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,636. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Deborah Black sold 598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.23, for a total value of $562,257.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,418.44. This trade represents a 58.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,872 shares of company stock valued at $13,261,400. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow 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.