Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,556 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $13,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in ServiceNow by 499,668.1% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,268,731,000 after acquiring an additional 4,771,830 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 89,137.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,185,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,059,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,739 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 216.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,367,875 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,206,178,000 after purchasing an additional 935,848 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 615,797 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in ServiceNow by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,606,394 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,014,302,000 after buying an additional 502,845 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 94 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,016.54, for a total transaction of $95,554.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,077,066.58. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 12,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.67, for a total value of $12,242,408.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,953.65. The trade was a 82.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,257 shares of company stock worth $23,579,376. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ServiceNow Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE NOW opened at $985.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $203.05 billion, a PE ratio of 144.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,070.53 and a 200-day moving average of $971.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on ServiceNow from $906.00 to $913.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,129.72.

ServiceNow 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.