Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in ServiceNow, Inc. $NOW

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) by 2,957.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,602 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,059 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $2,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,919,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 837 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 1,519 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,922 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its holdings in ServiceNow by 205.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 906 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ServiceNow from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $226.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServiceNow

In related news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $1,482,352.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,312.60. This represents a 35.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 8,927 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.60, for a total transaction of $799,859.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,645,977.60. This trade represents a 23.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow Stock Down 2.1%

NOW opened at $99.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $98.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.67. The company has a market cap of $103.09 billion, a PE ratio of 59.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.82. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.24 and a 1 year high of $211.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

ServiceNow Profile

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.