ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Trading 10% Higher – Still a Buy?

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s stock price rose 10% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $137.51 and last traded at $138.3410. Approximately 5,035,624 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 23,279,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.80.

Key Stories Impacting ServiceNow

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s earnings beat, raised guidance and “Claudeforce” AI announcement helped reset investor expectations for enterprise software and boosted sentiment across the sector. ServiceNow climbed alongside Salesforce and Adobe as the software ETF also advanced. Salesforce Soars 14% as Claudeforce and a Guidance Raise End the Slump, ServiceNow Climbs 5%, Adobe Advances 3%
• Positive Sentiment: Tech Mahindra expanded a multiyear partnership to scale AI deployments on the ServiceNow platform, supporting the company’s positioning as an enterprise AI infrastructure and workflow provider. ServiceNow In Focus Following Tech Mahindra AI Deal As Fair Value Debate Builds
• Positive Sentiment: Pricefx announced an integration that brings AI-powered pricing and deal-optimization tools into ServiceNow workflows, adding another example of partners expanding the platform’s commercial use cases. Pricefx Announces Integration with ServiceNow
• Positive Sentiment: Investor attention was reinforced by favorable commentary from Jim Cramer and bullish analysis describing ServiceNow as well positioned for the AI software cycle. ServiceNow Stock Is Trending After Hours
• Neutral Sentiment: ServiceNow shares have rallied sharply over the past month following its latest earnings report, which exceeded expectations on earnings and revenue and showed 24% year-over-year revenue growth. Investors are now debating whether additional AI-driven re-rating can support a move toward $150. ServiceNow Just Ripped 29% in a Month
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and cooling momentum indicators recently pressured the stock after its rapid advance. At a high valuation, with a reported P/E ratio above 85, ServiceNow may remain sensitive to shifts in AI enthusiasm, interest rates and investor expectations. What’s Going On With ServiceNow Stock Wednesday?
• Negative Sentiment: Datadog was judged to have an edge over ServiceNow because of faster growth, stronger earnings surprises and expanding AI opportunities, highlighting competitive and valuation risks for NOW. DDOG vs. NOW: Which Cloud Software Stock Has an Edge Right Now?

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of ServiceNow in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of ServiceNow in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised ServiceNow from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.24.

ServiceNow Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $140.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 16.45%. The business’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServiceNow news, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of ServiceNow stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $188,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,864,264. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ServiceNow

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 18.0% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 11,937 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Advus Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in ServiceNow by 71.7% during the second quarter. Advus Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,763 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in ServiceNow during the second quarter worth $28,275,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in ServiceNow by 9,980.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 154,496,061 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $15,338,369,000 after buying an additional 152,963,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in ServiceNow by 376.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,857 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 11,741 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.