ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Given New $1,432.00 Price Target at Citigroup

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its price target increased by analysts at Citigroup from $1,071.00 to $1,432.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 40.44% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on NOW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $900.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,129.93.

ServiceNow Stock Up 0.7 %

ServiceNow stock opened at $1,019.65 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,084.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $952.71. The company has a market capitalization of $210.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.00, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.99. ServiceNow has a fifty-two week low of $637.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 17.56%. Equities research analysts expect that ServiceNow will post 8.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In related news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total transaction of $481,635.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,204,200.58. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 12,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.67, for a total transaction of $12,242,408.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,588,953.65. The trade was a 82.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,731 shares of company stock valued at $21,016,751 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOW. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ServiceNow by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,302 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,457 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,605,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company grew its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 1,921 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,036,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

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.