Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd Makes New Investment in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 643,765 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $682,468,000. ServiceNow accounts for 3.7% of Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $241,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,332 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $716.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServiceNow currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,129.72.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 2,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,373.88. This represents a 36.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total value of $1,287,123.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,564.50. The trade was a 32.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,706 shares of company stock worth $17,644,106. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ServiceNow Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NOW opened at $941.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,044.39 and a 200 day moving average of $981.23. The company has a market cap of $194.01 billion, a PE ratio of 137.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.99. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $637.99 and a 12-month high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

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

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.