Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Stock Price

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $1,200.00 to $1,010.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 21.87% from the stock’s current price.

NOW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $716.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $1,230.00 to $1,050.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,093.76.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $828.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $955.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $983.64. ServiceNow has a 12 month low of $637.99 and a 12 month high of $1,198.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

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

ServiceNow announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of ServiceNow 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 directly owns 3,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,370,654.28. The trade was a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ServiceNow in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in ServiceNow in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of ServiceNow by 725.0% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 33 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.