ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $950.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on NOW. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,071.00 to $1,432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $860.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on ServiceNow from $1,020.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on ServiceNow from $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,129.93.

ServiceNow Price Performance

NOW stock opened at $1,011.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,085.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $952.30. The company has a market capitalization of $208.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.99. ServiceNow has a 52-week low of $637.99 and a 52-week high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.67 by ($1.74). ServiceNow had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 12.77%. Research analysts expect that ServiceNow will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 2,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.60, for a total transaction of $2,372,993.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,710,600. This represents a 16.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at $3,204,200.58. The trade was a 13.07 % 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD now owns 2,701 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in ServiceNow in the fourth quarter worth $48,802,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 488 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,565,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow in the 4th quarter worth about $105,090,000. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.