Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of ServiceNow Call Options (NYSE:NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 179,416 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 17% compared to the typical daily volume of 153,597 call options.

ServiceNow Stock Down 3.5%

NOW stock opened at $92.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.96. ServiceNow has a 12 month low of $81.24 and a 12 month high of $210.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. ServiceNow had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServiceNow will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOW has been the subject of several research reports. Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on ServiceNow from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research set a $125.00 target price on ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on ServiceNow in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.39.

Key Stories Impacting ServiceNow

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ServiceNow beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, showing that demand for its workflow and AI products remains healthy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its annual subscription revenue forecast again, which signals management confidence in continued growth.
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related momentum was a major highlight, with AI contract value topping $1 billion and multiple reports saying customers are adopting ServiceNow’s AI platform more aggressively.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts turned more constructive after earnings, including price-target increases and reaffirmed buy/overweight ratings.
• Neutral Sentiment: New partnerships and customer wins, including Experian, Leidos, TeamViewer, and Exclusive Networks, support the long-term platform story but are less likely to move the stock immediately. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain worried that new AI tools from OpenAI and others could pressure legacy enterprise software, which has created volatility even after the earnings beat.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total value of $130,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,930 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,243.90. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anita M. Sands sold 16,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $1,482,352.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,712,312.60. This represents a 35.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 19,144 shares of company stock worth $1,730,097 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

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

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.