Choate Investment Advisors Increases Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 827 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in ServiceNow were worth $877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOW. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD increased its position in shares of ServiceNow by 57.0% in 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 buying an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,802,000. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at about $105,090,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,071,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total value of $481,635.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,204,200.58. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of NOW opened at $845.75 on Monday. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 12 month low of $637.99 and a 12 month high of $1,198.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $992.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $985.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $174.22 billion, a PE ratio of 123.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. Equities analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of ServiceNow from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,275.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $1,230.00 price target for the company. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,114.24.

ServiceNow 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.