ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Trading 9.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price traded up 9.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $139.20 and last traded at $135.6990. 67,787,679 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 188% from the average session volume of 23,565,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.85.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $131.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.13.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other ServiceNow news, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total value of $103,238.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,212.72. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,919,243.90. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,020,992,000. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 411.7% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 47,955 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,346,000 after buying an additional 38,583 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Klingenstein LLC raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 400.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 387.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 385.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,599,397 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $398,202,000 after buying an additional 2,064,440 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.