Needham & Company LLC Boosts ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Price Target to $1,200.00

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 17.63% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $1,230.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $900.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $906.00 to $913.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on ServiceNow from $1,100.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,129.93.

ServiceNow Price Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $1,020.17 on Thursday. ServiceNow has a 52 week low of $637.99 and a 52 week high of $1,198.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,084.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $952.71. The stock has a market cap of $210.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 12.97%. On average, equities analysts predict that ServiceNow will post 8.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 2,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.60, for a total transaction of $2,372,993.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,710,600. This trade represents a 16.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey A. Miller sold 2,879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,019.12, for a total value of $2,934,046.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,740,630.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,731 shares of company stock valued at $21,016,751 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 39 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in ServiceNow by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 44 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

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.