ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) Shares Acquired by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,130 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $82,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ServiceNow by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,199,258 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,353,517,000 after buying an additional 190,430 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,955,924 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $8,434,235,000 after acquiring an additional 509,467 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,878,900 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,232,339,000 after purchasing an additional 272,506 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,312,571 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,560,890,000 after purchasing an additional 100,670 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,603,360,000. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NOW shares. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,025.00 price objective (up from $900.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank set a $1,100.00 price target on ServiceNow and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James cut their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,200.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $975.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,062.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,184 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.08, for a total transaction of $1,160,414.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,120,256.32. This trade represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total value of $4,285,197.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at $10,733,252.20. This represents a 28.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,056 shares of company stock worth $14,421,814 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

NOW opened at $1,029.76 on Thursday. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52-week low of $637.99 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.16 billion, a PE ratio of 150.77, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.97. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $853.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.90.

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

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.