Choate Investment Advisors Increases Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 827 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in ServiceNow were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in ServiceNow by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 307,965 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $326,480,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,584,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,147,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,329,000. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,060,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total value of $2,720,355.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,370,654.28. This trade represents a 44.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the business’s 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 $3,204,200.58. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOW opened at $845.75 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $992.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.22 billion, a PE ratio of 123.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. ServiceNow, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $637.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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 net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.11%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NOW. KeyCorp downgraded ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,048.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,000.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,114.24.

ServiceNow Company 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.