Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,193 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,265,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in ServiceNow by 725.0% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Down 6.9 %

ServiceNow stock opened at $720.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $917.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $980.64. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research 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 share buyback plan 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total value of $481,635.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $923.72, for a total value of $2,720,355.40. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,351 shares of company stock worth $20,050,076 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $1,200.00 to $1,010.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on ServiceNow from $1,025.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $716.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,175.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,086.00.

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.