Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus raised Workday’s price target from $160 to $175 but maintained a “hold” rating, implying 11.76% downside from the stock’s $198.31 price. The broader analyst consensus is also “hold,” with an average target of $205.03.
• Workday reported quarterly EPS of $2.75, beating expectations of $2.61, while revenue rose 12.8% year over year to $2.65 billion. Shares have traded between $110.36 and $247.40 over the past year and are up from their 200-day moving average of $152.89.
• Insider selling remains a sentiment concern: major shareholder David Duffield sold roughly $18.7 million of stock, and insiders sold about $188.8 million worth of shares over the past 90 days, though the transactions were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "hold" rating on the software maker's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective suggests a potential downside of 11.76% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on WDAY. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Workday from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Workday from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Workday from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Workday from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Workday currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $205.03.

Workday Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDAY traded up $9.54 on Thursday, hitting $198.31. 723,010 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,671,348. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Workday has a 1-year low of $110.36 and a 1-year high of $247.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $191.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.79 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.07.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The software maker reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.64 billion. Workday had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Workday will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder David Duffield sold 100,780 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.64, for a total value of $18,708,799.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,501,296.36. This trade represents a 48.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 988,104 shares of company stock worth $188,811,574. Company insiders own 18.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDAY. B.A. Schrock Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Workday during the third quarter worth about $264,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Workday by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,782 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA purchased a new stake in shares of Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,123,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Workday in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,000,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Workday in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,237,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Workday News

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Workday announced a collaboration with Anthropic to connect Claude’s reasoning capabilities with Workday’s Sana agents, governed data and business rules. The partnership could strengthen Workday’s position in enterprise AI and increase adoption of its HR and finance software. Anthropic collaboration
• Positive Sentiment: Workday is introducing AI agents and tools across HR, finance and recruiting, including expanded Sana capabilities, Autopilot agents and a new Candidate Profile that lets applicants reuse information across Workday-powered applications. These products may improve customer engagement and create new monetization opportunities. Candidate Profile announcement
• Positive Sentiment: The planned acquisition of ConductorOne, or C1.ai, would add agentic identity and access-management capabilities for employees and AI agents. The deal could improve Workday’s AI governance and security offering, although financial terms were not disclosed. ConductorOne acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Zacks characterizes WDAY as significantly oversold and argues that Workday could benefit as enterprise adoption of agentic AI accelerates. Zacks Workday commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS lowered its price target from $220 to $210 and retained a Neutral rating. The revised target remains above the recent trading level, but the cut indicates limited near-term conviction. UBS target revision
• Neutral Sentiment: A Fortune profile says Workday’s CEO studied the Steve Jobs playbook for returning founders, highlighting leadership and strategy as the company works to translate its AI investments into stronger growth. Fortune leadership profile
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that revenue growth is decelerating despite management’s forecast for continued double-digit expansion. The issue is whether Workday’s AI initiatives can produce material financial results quickly enough to justify its valuation. Workday growth outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder David Duffield sold 99,835 shares worth about $18.7 million, while Chief Accounting Officer Mark Garfield sold 918 shares worth about $174,000. Both trades used pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their negative signaling value, but the sales may still weigh on sentiment. Workday insider sales

Workday Company Profile

Workday, Inc develops cloud-based enterprise software for managing an organization's people, finances and operations. Its platform is primarily used by businesses, government agencies and educational institutions to support human resources, finance, planning, analytics and related administrative processes.

The company's offerings include Workday Human Capital Management, Financial Management, Adaptive Planning, Spend Management, payroll, recruiting, talent management, learning and workforce analytics.

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