Traders Buy High Volume of ServiceNow Put Options (NYSE:NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 105,381 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 69% compared to the average daily volume of 62,339 put options.

ServiceNow Price Performance

Shares of NOW opened at $107.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $112.24 billion, a PE ratio of 64.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.97. ServiceNow has a 1-year low of $98.00 and a 1-year high of $211.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The information technology services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 18.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $204.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.06.

Insider Transactions at ServiceNow

In other ServiceNow news, insider Paul Fipps sold 9,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.93, for a total transaction of $1,021,271.13. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,419.01. The trade was a 45.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kevin Thomas Mcbride sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.71, for a total transaction of $147,994.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,781,652.94. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,526 shares of company stock worth $2,467,814. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServiceNow by 404.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,963,384 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,619,771,000 after purchasing an additional 81,752,460 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in ServiceNow by 406.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,896,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,337,280,000 after purchasing an additional 38,441,898 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in ServiceNow by 371.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,395,663 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,962,692,000 after purchasing an additional 25,517,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 404.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,512,428 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,591,425,000 after buying an additional 18,854,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 335.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,733,483 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,482,543,000 after buying an additional 17,514,679 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

ServiceNow News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights that ServiceNow has been attracting investor attention recently, which can prompt increased buying interest from traders watching trending names. Zacks piece
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS published a piece on hunting for value among beaten-down software stocks; if analysts include NOW in theses like this it could support longer-term interest, but the article does not constitute immediate fundamental news for NOW. UBS/CNBC article
• Neutral Sentiment: Forbes published a thematic piece arguing some enterprise software names may be mispriced in the agentic/AI era — a long‑run favorable framing for platform leaders like ServiceNow but not an immediate catalyst. Forbes article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director Paul Fipps sold 9,641 shares (~45% reduction of his holding) at about $105.93 on Feb 18 — a large, disclosed sale that can weigh on sentiment, especially given the magnitude relative to his remaining stake. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity: traders bought ~105,381 put contracts (about +69% vs. average), signaling elevated bearish bets or hedging demand that can accelerate downward pressure on the stock into short-term expirations.
• Negative Sentiment: Sector/market headwinds: media coverage shows prominent fund managers trimming software exposure and recent weakness at peers (e.g., Palo Alto Networks’ guidance-led pullback) — broad sentiment against software/AI-exposed names is likely adding selling pressure on NOW. LA Times CNBC Palo Alto article

ServiceNow Company 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.