ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price Up 1.6% – Should You Buy?

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price traded up 1.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $985.50 and last traded at $973.11. 451,350 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 1,927,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $957.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NOW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on ServiceNow from $1,280.00 to $1,025.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $716.00 to $724.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,041.00.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $202.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.08, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $839.29 and its 200-day moving average is $968.38.

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

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In related news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total transaction of $1,287,123.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,564.50. This trade represents a 32.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Deborah Black sold 598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.23, for a total transaction of $562,257.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,418.44. The trade was a 58.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,618 shares of company stock valued at $21,132,878 over the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 113.3% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 32 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 620.0% in the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 36 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 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.