Fluent Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Workday, Inc. $WDAY

Key Points

• Fluent Financial LLC acquired 18,370 Workday shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $2.25 million and representing 0.8% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 89.81% of Workday.
• Workday exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.66 EPS versus the $2.51 consensus and $2.54 billion in revenue, up 13.5% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $179.80.
• Workday shares opened at $179.64, well above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while insiders sold about 875,020 shares worth $113.9 million over the past three months, primarily under pre-arranged trading plans.

Fluent Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 18,370 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,249,000. Workday comprises approximately 0.8% of Fluent Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WDAY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Workday by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker's stock worth $5,371,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210,232 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Workday by 25,412.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 10,230,616 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,197,332,000 after acquiring an additional 10,190,516 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Workday by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,770,707 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,098,552,000 after purchasing an additional 96,139 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Workday by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,491 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,406,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Workday by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,091,926 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,089,970,000 after purchasing an additional 75,922 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Workday Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDAY opened at $179.64 on Monday. Workday, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.36 and a 52 week high of $249.85. The stock's fifty day moving average is $140.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Workday, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WDAY. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Workday in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Workday from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 918 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.19, for a total value of $130,530.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 73,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,481,962.42. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 2,728 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.62, for a total transaction of $391,795.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 266,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,258,644.56. The trade was a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 875,020 shares of company stock valued at $113,938,503. Corporate insiders own 18.64% of the company's stock.

About Workday

Workday, Inc NASDAQ: WDAY is a provider of cloud-based enterprise applications focused on human capital management (HCM) and financial management. Founded in 2005 by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri following their tenure at PeopleSoft, the company develops software-as-a-service solutions that help organizations manage workforce and financial processes in a unified, cloud-native environment. Workday's platform emphasizes continuous updates, data security, and a configurable architecture aimed at large and mid-sized enterprises.

The company's product portfolio centers on Workday Human Capital Management and Workday Financial Management, with additional offerings for payroll, talent management, workforce planning and analytics.

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