Candriam S.C.A. Has $143.90 Million Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 135,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 34,390 shares during the quarter. ServiceNow comprises approximately 0.8% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $143,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 887 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at $393,868,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 59,745 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $63,337,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,300.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $1,230.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,129.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total transaction of $4,285,197.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,733,252.20. The trade was a 28.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total transaction of $2,720,355.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,654.28. This trade represents a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NYSE:NOW opened at $916.34 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,026.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $984.57. The stock has a market cap of $188.77 billion, a PE ratio of 134.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.99. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52 week low of $637.99 and a 52 week high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued 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, analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About ServiceNow

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.