ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Down 2.8% – Here’s Why

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price traded down 2.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $808.68 and last traded at $819.73. 543,925 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 1,775,152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $843.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NOW. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered shares of ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $1,230.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,114.24.

ServiceNow Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $992.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $983.44. The company has a market cap of $174.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total transaction of $2,720,355.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,370,654.28. The trade was a 44.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,733,252.20. This trade represents a 28.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at about $87,593,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,568 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,996,000. TFR Capital LLC. acquired a new stake in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth approximately $528,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at $153,000. 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.