ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Raised to Buy at Truist Financial

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $1,200.00 price objective on the information technology services provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.65% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on NOW. Mizuho dropped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,210.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,280.00 to $1,025.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $969.00 target price on ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,041.00.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $955.02 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $837.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $967.60. ServiceNow has a 12-month low of $637.99 and a 12-month high of $1,198.09. The firm has a market cap of $197.69 billion, a PE ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. ServiceNow’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that ServiceNow will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 292 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,017.55, for a total value of $297,124.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $3,080,123.85. This represents a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 2,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,012.09, for a total value of $2,541,357.99. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 4,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,373.88. The trade was a 36.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,618 shares of company stock worth $21,132,878 in the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in ServiceNow by 620.0% in the 1st quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 36 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 725.0% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.