Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 1,100,403 Shares of Workday, Inc. $WDAY

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments reduced its Workday stake by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,100,403 shares and ending with 2,116,802 shares worth about $454.6 million.
• Workday shares were down 5.0% as the stock opened at $130.53, even though the company had recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.66 on revenue of $2.54 billion.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on WDAY, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $185.03, despite some recent price-target adjustments.

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,116,802 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 1,100,403 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned approximately 0.80% of Workday worth $454,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Workday during the second quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Workday during the third quarter worth $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday in the third quarter valued at $30,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 9,356 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.39, for a total transaction of $1,201,216.84. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,193,850.86. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,373 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total transaction of $695,319.93. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,414 shares in the company, valued at $21,406,225.74. The trade was a 3.15% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 774,814 shares of company stock valued at $102,709,316 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.64% of the company's stock.

Workday Stock Down 5.0%

WDAY opened at $130.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average is $128.07 and its 200 day moving average is $160.22. Workday, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.36 and a fifty-two week high of $253.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.09.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Workday, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WDAY. HC Wainwright set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Workday from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Workday from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Workday from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Workday from an "overweight" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.03.

Workday 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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