Investors Purchase High Volume of ServiceNow Put Options (NYSE:NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 127,278 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 602% compared to the average volume of 18,141 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Arete Research upgraded ServiceNow to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. DZ Bank raised shares of ServiceNow to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServiceNow from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.53.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In related news, Vice Chairman Nicholas Tzitzon sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.42, for a total value of $431,735.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,481,240. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kevin Thomas Mcbride sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.50, for a total value of $235,894.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,257,893.92. This represents a 5.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 15,310 shares of company stock worth $2,533,585 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,589,235,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 365.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 529,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $544,875,000 after acquiring an additional 416,162 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,895,063 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,453,716,000 after acquiring an additional 398,071 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 18.1% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,376,714 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,443,452,000 after acquiring an additional 363,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 105.1% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 668,630 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $684,355,000 after acquiring an additional 342,613 shares during the period. 87.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

Shares of NOW stock opened at $153.08 on Friday. ServiceNow has a 12-month low of $135.73 and a 12-month high of $239.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.47.

About ServiceNow

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.