Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.43% from the stock’s current price.

NOW has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,100.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,070.00 to $1,210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $900.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $906.00 to $913.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,125.62.

ServiceNow Stock Down 12.1 %

NYSE NOW traded down $138.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,004.79. 3,164,597 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,489,258. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,085.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $952.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.99 billion, a PE ratio of 156.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.99. ServiceNow has a fifty-two week low of $637.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by ($1.74). ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 16.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that ServiceNow will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 12,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.67, for a total transaction of $12,242,408.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,953.65. This trade represents a 82.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total transaction of $481,635.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,731 shares of company stock worth $21,016,751. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOW. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 497 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in ServiceNow by 2.2% during 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 boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,146 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 2,622 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised 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 valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

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.