ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $1,143.63, but opened at $1,027.12. ServiceNow shares last traded at $1,003.73, with a volume of 1,028,040 shares traded.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on ServiceNow from $860.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $900.00 to $960.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,210.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,129.93.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, Director Jeffrey A. Miller sold 2,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,019.12, for a total transaction of $2,934,046.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,740,630.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 76 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,010.94, for a total value of $76,831.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,060,115.38. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,731 shares of company stock worth $21,016,751 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 497 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 459 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,146 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 2,622 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 895 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $210.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,084.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $952.71.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.56%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign 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.