Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires 373 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 131.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 657 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOW. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 57.0% during the third quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD now owns 2,701 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,802,000. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,090,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. purchased a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,071,000. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total value of $2,720,355.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,370,654.28. This trade represents a 44.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total transaction of $1,287,123.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,564.50. This trade represents a 32.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,300.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC boosted 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,114.24.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $810.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,006.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $985.52. The company has a market cap of $166.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. ServiceNow, Inc. has a twelve month low of $637.99 and a twelve month 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.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (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 17.11%. As a group, analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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