Swiss National Bank Sells 26,600 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 581,900 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 26,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of ServiceNow worth $616,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NOW. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth $12,603,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 131.3% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 657 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $10,783,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 74,881 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $79,383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 50 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $964.70, for a total value of $4,285,197.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at $10,733,252.20. This represents a 28.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total value of $1,287,123.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,564.50. This represents a 32.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOW opened at $844.27 on Thursday. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 52 week low of $637.99 and a 52 week high of $1,198.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $173.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,002.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $984.53.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 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 buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NOW. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $1,230.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $716.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,114.24.

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.