Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Workday, Inc. $WDAY

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates Corp increased its Workday stake by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, adding 144,833 shares to bring its total holdings to 1.56 million shares valued at about $335 million.
• Other major institutions also boosted positions in WDAY, including Vanguard, while hedge funds and institutional investors now own 89.81% of Workday’s shares.
• Workday reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.66 topping estimates and revenue rising 13.5% year over year, even as analysts remain cautious with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $185.03.

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,559,835 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 144,833 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.59% of Workday worth $335,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WDAY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,210,232 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Workday during the third quarter worth about $556,252,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Workday during the fourth quarter worth about $448,804,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 47.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Workday by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,761,599 shares of the software maker's stock worth $905,530,000 after buying an additional 1,103,421 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WDAY. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Workday from $280.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore downgraded Workday from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Workday to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on Workday from $275.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Workday from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,373 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total transaction of $695,319.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 165,414 shares in the company, valued at $21,406,225.74. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 9,356 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.39, for a total value of $1,201,216.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 165,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,193,850.86. The trade was a 5.36% 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 have sold 774,814 shares of company stock worth $102,709,316 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.64% of the company's stock.

Workday Price Performance

Shares of Workday stock opened at $130.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a PE ratio of 40.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $128.10 and a 200 day moving average of $160.02. Workday, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.36 and a 52 week high of $249.85.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Workday, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WDAY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.