Welch & Forbes LLC Increases Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,254 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,970 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $23,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,077,547 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $8,118,867,000 after buying an additional 226,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 9.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,606,394 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,014,302,000 after buying an additional 502,845 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 499,668.1% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,268,731,000 after buying an additional 4,771,830 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,211,901 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,753,828,000 after buying an additional 78,378 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 24.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,169,531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,797,000 after buying an additional 615,797 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,370,654.28. The trade was a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 292 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total transaction of $297,124.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,080,123.85. This trade represents a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, 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

NOW opened at $865.79 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,022.06 and a 200-day moving average of $983.75. The company has a market capitalization of $178.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.76, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.99. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year 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 released its earnings results 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%. Equities analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,129.72.

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.