CenterBook Partners LP Invests $2.31 Million in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Workday, investing approximately $2.3 million for 9,875 shares during the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• CEO Carl M. Eschenbach sold 6,250 shares of Workday's stock, a significant 80.94% decrease in his holdings, which raises questions about insider confidence amidst recent stock performance.
• Analyst ratings for Workday show a consensus of 'Moderate Buy' with a target price of $296.88, indicating potential for upward movement despite mixed reviews from various firms.

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,875 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,306,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WDAY. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Workday by 76.1% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 125 shares of the software maker's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Workday during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in Workday by 54.0% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 154 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Workday during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Workday during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price target on shares of Workday and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Workday from $310.00 to $275.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Workday from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Workday in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price target (down from $255.00) on shares of Workday in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $296.88.

Insider Activity at Workday

In other news, Director George J. Still, Jr. sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $1,863,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 67,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,767,675. The trade was a 10.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 73,971 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $17,653,918.86. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,581,264.02. This trade represents a 41.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,005 shares of company stock worth $79,203,523 in the last three months. Insiders own 19.31% of the company's stock.

Workday Stock Performance

WDAY traded up $1.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $222.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,386,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,807. The firm has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $237.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.27. Workday, Inc. has a one year low of $205.33 and a one year high of $294.00.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.22. Workday had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 5.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Workday Profile

Workday, Inc provides enterprise cloud applications in the United States and internationally. Its applications help its customers to plan, execute, analyze, and extend to other applications and environments to manage their business and operations. The company offers a suite of financial management applications to maintain accounting information in the general ledger; manage financial processes, such as payables and receivables; identify real-time financial, operational, and management insights; enhance financial consolidation; reduce time-to-close; promote internal control and auditability; and achieve consistency across finance operations.