South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stock Position in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 2,076.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,192 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 72,692 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $7,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covenant Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 169.2% during the fourth quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 13,114 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,020,992,000. World Investment Advisors raised its position in ServiceNow by 411.7% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 47,955 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,346,000 after purchasing an additional 38,583 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Klingenstein LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Cohen Klingenstein LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 387.7% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 45,630 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,990,000 after buying an additional 36,274 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. CLSA assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on ServiceNow from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research set a $125.00 price objective on ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson set a $170.00 price objective on ServiceNow and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.39.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In related news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $1,482,352.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,712,312.60. This trade represents a 35.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total transaction of $130,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,919,243.90. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,144 shares of company stock worth $1,730,097 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of ServiceNow stock opened at $110.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.40. The stock has a market cap of $113.93 billion, a PE ratio of 68.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.24 and a 12 month high of $196.40.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 11.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting ServiceNow

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow’s latest quarterly results showed continued momentum: revenue rose 24% year over year to approximately $4 billion, while adjusted earnings exceeded consensus expectations. Management also raised guidance, and AI-related contract value surpassed $1 billion ahead of internal targets. ServiceNow Stock Opinions on Q2 Earnings Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors remain constructive on ServiceNow’s workflow-automation and agentic-AI opportunity. An investment analysis cited accelerating user retention, pricing power, a growing security and risk business, and a long-term target of $30 billion to $32 billion in subscription revenue by 2030. The analysis raised its fair-value estimate to $160. ServiceNow User Retention Is Accelerating
• Positive Sentiment: Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations launched a new application on the ServiceNow platform for IT asset disposition, expanding the company’s partner ecosystem and demonstrating additional use cases for its workflow technology. Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations Launches New ServiceNow App
• Neutral Sentiment: ServiceNow’s valuation remains a major debate. The stock is well below its recent highs, while the average analyst price target is around $140 and a separate survey reports a $134 median target, indicating substantial potential upside but also skepticism about how quickly AI growth will translate into results. ServiceNow Showing Signs of Life
• Negative Sentiment: ServiceNow could eliminate up to 1,000 positions this year as part of a planned “rightsizing” effort following a series of acquisitions. Reports of continuing layoffs and employee frustration may weigh on sentiment, even though the reductions could eventually improve operating efficiency and offset acquisition-related costs. ServiceNow to Cut Up to 1,000 Jobs
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider activity has been mixed but skewed toward selling, with nine sales versus two purchases over the past six months. Several senior executives sold shares, although CEO Bill McDermott was reported to have purchased shares. This is a secondary signal, but it may reinforce cautious sentiment.

ServiceNow Company Profile

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.