Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Sells 1,600 Shares of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. reduced its holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,400 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $5,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the third quarter worth about $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NOW. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,275.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,432.00 to $1,426.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on ServiceNow from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on ServiceNow from $1,300.00 to $1,250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,114.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In other news, CFO Gina Mastantuono sold 4,442 shares of ServiceNow 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,733,252.20. This trade represents a 28.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 1,263 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,019.10, for a total value of $1,287,123.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,564.50. The trade was a 32.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

NYSE:NOW opened at $844.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $173.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.61, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,002.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $984.53. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $637.99 and a 1-year high of $1,198.09.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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.