Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. Takes Position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,031 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,000. ServiceNow accounts for about 2.5% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of ServiceNow by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 4,062 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,633,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,123,000. United Bank acquired a new position in shares of ServiceNow during the 3rd quarter valued at $480,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 55,094 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $49,276,000 after acquiring an additional 7,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 1,788 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on ServiceNow from $1,250.00 to $1,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $1,230.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut ServiceNow from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $1,150.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,129.72.

ServiceNow Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NOW opened at $850.54 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,017.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.92. ServiceNow, Inc. has a one year low of $637.99 and a one year high of $1,198.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.53, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.03.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.67. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServiceNow declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,945 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,654.28. This represents a 44.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,058.54, for a total value of $481,635.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,204,200.58. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,351 shares of company stock valued at $20,050,076. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.