Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Workday, Inc. $WDAY

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Workday during the first quarter, buying 24,900 shares valued at about $3.24 million.
• Workday’s latest quarterly results were solid, with earnings of $2.66 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 13.5% year over year to $2.54 billion. The company also raised its full-year operating margin outlook, supporting a more positive investor view.
• Sentiment around Workday has improved thanks to AI initiatives, a favorable software-sector rotation, and analyst optimism, including a buy upgrade with a $150 price target. However, the company still faces a lawsuit over alleged AI bias, which remains a legal overhang.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,900 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,235,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WDAY. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Workday during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Workday during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Workday during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Workday during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Workday in the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Workday News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors appear to be re-rating Workday after its latest quarterly results showed solid revenue growth, stronger-than-expected earnings, and an increased full-year operating margin outlook, reinforcing confidence in the company’s execution and demand trends.
• Positive Sentiment: Workday’s AI and data-platform efforts are helping sentiment, including its AWS Data Cloud integration and broader AI product push, which may support future growth as enterprises spend more on AI-enabled software.
• Positive Sentiment: A market rotation into software has also lifted shares, with investors favoring names like Workday over semiconductors in the latest move across the market.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment has improved, highlighted by Monness Crespi & Hardt upgrading Workday to buy with a $150 price target, adding to a generally constructive analyst backdrop.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent insider selling by major shareholder David Duffield was disclosed under a pre-arranged trading plan, which may limit its significance for day-to-day trading but is still something investors may watch.
• Negative Sentiment: Workday continues to face a lawsuit tied to alleged AI bias in job-screening tools, creating a legal overhang that could temper enthusiasm if the case escalates.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson set a $135.00 price objective on Workday in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Workday from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Workday from $206.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $216.00 price objective 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 issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Workday currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.00.

Workday Trading Up 9.2%

Shares of WDAY opened at $124.21 on Friday. Workday, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.36 and a fifty-two week high of $249.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $127.46 and a 200 day moving average of $153.11. The firm has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Workday had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The company's revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Workday, Inc. will post 5.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Workday

In related news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.22, for a total transaction of $769,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 217,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,942,984.60. This represents a 2.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 1,585 shares of Workday stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total transaction of $179,184.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 31,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,557,344.35. This represents a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 774,814 shares of company stock worth $99,846,591 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.64% of the company's stock.

Workday Company Profile

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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