ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Trading 2.9% Higher – Here’s Why

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) shares shot up 2.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $1,014.89 and last traded at $1,008.19. 437,341 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,512,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $980.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOW. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target (up from $970.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $1,048.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on ServiceNow from $716.00 to $724.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,010.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on ServiceNow from $990.00 to $950.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,055.83.

ServiceNow Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $844.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $970.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap 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.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. ServiceNow’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 1,023 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $988.00, for a total value of $1,010,724.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,280,016. The trade was a 19.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 415 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.46, for a total value of $419,340.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,335,828.12. The trade was a 23.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,259 shares of company stock worth $14,624,279 in the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Quarry LP bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 113.3% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 32 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

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.