ServiceNow Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 105,381 put options on the company. This is an increase of 69% compared to the average daily volume of 62,339 put options.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 2,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.60, for a total transaction of $336,936.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 63,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,215,544. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kevin Thomas Mcbride sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.71, for a total transaction of $147,994.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,781,652.94. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,885 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,543 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,919,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 4.2% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 837 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 264 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,519 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $200.00 price objective on ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $180.00 price objective on ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of ServiceNow from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Macquarie Infrastructure cut their price objective on ServiceNow from $172.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.06.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOW traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $107.31. The company had a trading volume of 13,157,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,144,516. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $134.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.87. The company has a market capitalization of $112.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. ServiceNow has a 1 year low of $98.00 and a 1 year high of $211.48.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The information technology services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 13.16%.The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ServiceNow will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.