ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ServiceNow from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,075.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,150.00 target price on ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $1,160.00 to $1,150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,120.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,159.66.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $862.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $917.24 and a 200-day moving average of $950.66. ServiceNow has a one year low of $678.66 and a one year high of $1,198.09. The company has a market cap of $179.39 billion, a PE ratio of 104.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

ServiceNow’s stock is scheduled to split before the market opens on Friday, December 5th. The 5-1 split was announced on Wednesday, October 29th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, December 4th.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information technology services provider reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.61. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 13.66%.The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 5,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $916.63, for a total transaction of $5,339,369.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,062,590.82. This represents a 46.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $895.05, for a total transaction of $1,299,612.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409,037.85. This trade represents a 76.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,980 shares of company stock valued at $15,178,834. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in ServiceNow by 200.0% during the third quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 31 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in ServiceNow in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.