ServiceNow Inc. stock fell. (NYSE: NOW ) -3.26% on Friday at $411.20 compared to the previous day’s closing price of $425.05. With 1.64 million shares changing hands, the stock’s volume remained heavier than its average volume of 1.57 million shares. During the session, the Software – Application company operating in the broader Technology sector, touched a high of $421.50 while its lowest price was $411.01. The 52-week range for NOW shows that it reached its high point of $707.60 and its low point of $406.47 during that period. It currently has a 1-year price target of $557.58. The beta for the stock currently stands at 0.94.
Price Performance and Earnings:
Stock performance is one of the indicators that investors use to determine whether they will profit from a stock. NOW price performance was down-trending in the last week, with a decrease of -9.10%, but it was down -13.66% in one month period. Three months performance was down -9.68% while six months performance was down -27.83%. The stock has lost -36.61% over the past year, while it has lost -36.65% so far this year. A look at the trailing 12-month EPS for NOW yields 0.91 with next year EPS estimates of 9.25. For the next quarter, that number is 1.85. This implies an EPS growth rate of 93.40% for this year and 26.61% for next year. EPS is expected to grow by 26.54% annually over the next five years; however, over the past five years, the company has experienced an annual growth rate of 19.60%.
Float and Share Shorts:
Currently, 202.00 million NOW shares are outstanding with a float of 201.33 million shares on hand for trading. As of Jul 14, 2022, the short shares were 4.0 million, which is 1.99% higher than the short shares as of June 14, 2022. In addition to Mr. William R. McDermott as Pres, CEO and Director of the company , Mrs. Gina M. Mastantuono serves as its Chief Financial Officer.
Institutional Ownership:
Through their ownership of 89.68% of NOW’s outstanding shares, institutional investors have majority control of the company. Other institutions hold 9.37% of NOW, in contrast to the 50.65% held by mutual funds. Shares owned by individuals accounted for 39.78%. As NOW’s largest shareholder with a 7.78% stake, Vanguard Group, Inc. has 15,723,059 shares worth 15,723,059. NOW’s second largest stockholder, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., holds 14,017,878 shares, controlling more than 6.94% of the firm’s shares. BlackRock Fund Advisors is NOW’s third largest shareholder, holding 9,565,331 shares or a 4.74% stake. With a 2.94% stake in NOW, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index is the largest stakeholder. The mutual fund manager owns a total of 5,935,709 shares. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which owns about 2.22% of NOW stock, is the Mutual Fund’s second largest holder. It holds 4,473,768 shares worth 1.94 billion. T Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Fun holds a 1.67% stake in NOW, owning 3,375,467 shares worth 1.47 billion.
Analyst Ratings:
Reading analyst opinions is an effective way to decide where to invest, and there are several opinions available for NOW as 33 analysts follow the stock currently. There are 28 analysts recommending BUY ratings, while 1 suggests SELL ratings. Among the remaining analysts, 2 believe the stock is worth HOLD, 2 give OVERWEIGHT rating, and 0 think it is UNDERWEIGHT. In the same way, a price target assigned to a stock can also reveal a lot about its potential. With NOW analysts setting a high target price of $752.00 and a low target price of $495.00, the average target price for the next 12 months is $553.83. Based on these targets, NOW could rise 82.88% to reach the target high and rise 20.38% to reach the target low. Reaching the average price target would result in a growth of 34.69% from current levels.
EPS: Estimates vs Actuals
Earnings estimates are also commonly used to evaluate a company’s growth potential and to determine business strategy. NOW will report FY 2022 earnings on 01/25/2023. Analysts provided yearly estimates with a range of $7.50 high and $7.19 low. At NOW, this leads to an annual average estimate of $7.30. A company’s earnings surprise occurs when actual results change from consensus earnings estimates. ServiceNow Inc. analysts were surprised. by $0.05 when it reported $1.62 EPS vs. a consensus estimate of $1.57. The surprise factor in the prior quarter was $0.03. Based on analyst estimates, the high estimate for the next quarter is $1.94 and the low estimate is $1.76. The average estimate for the next quarter is therefore $1.85.
Summary of Insider Activity:
Insiders have traded NOW stock several times in the last three months with 52 Buys and 98 Sells. In these transactions, 51,118 shares were bought while 52,297 shares were sold. The number of buying transactions increased to 187 while selling transactions increased to 478 in the previous year. The total number of shares bought during that period was 206,725 while 255,904 shares were sold.