Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Increases Stock Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 890 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 499,668.1% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,772,785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,268,731,000 after buying an additional 4,771,830 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in ServiceNow by 216.6% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 935,848 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in ServiceNow by 154,255.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 666,815 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 666,383 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at $682,468,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in ServiceNow by 24.1% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 615,797 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NOW. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,432.00 to $1,426.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,048.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,114.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

ServiceNow Stock Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $810.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,006.72 and its 200 day moving average is $985.52.

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

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

ServiceNow Company 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.