Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 47,245 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 292,770 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,245 shares during the quarter. ServiceNow comprises approximately 1.4% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $310,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 497 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in ServiceNow by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 459 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 2,622 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 302 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Onefund LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 552 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServiceNow Stock Down 1.9 %

ServiceNow stock opened at $850.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a PE ratio of 124.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. ServiceNow, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $637.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,198.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,017.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $985.92.

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

ServiceNow declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,300.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,050.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,332.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,129.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServiceNow news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,654.28. This trade represents a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at $10,733,252.20. This represents a 28.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% 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.