Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 455,855 Shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Workday, Inc. to 20,598,655 shares, valued at approximately $4.81 billion, representing a 2.3% increase in the first quarter.
• Workday reported earnings of $2.23 per share, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $2.01, along with a revenue of $2.24 billion in the latest quarter, reflecting a 12.6% year-over-year growth.
• Analysts have mixed views on Workday, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging around $296.88, as several analysts have adjusted their price objectives.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,598,655 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 455,855 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.74% of Workday worth $4,810,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 5.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,645 shares of the software maker's stock worth $5,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 13.9% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the software maker's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 33.8% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,055 shares of the software maker's stock worth $7,486,000 after purchasing an additional 8,093 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Workday during the first quarter worth about $290,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 27.8% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,601 shares of the software maker's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDAY. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Workday from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Workday from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Workday from $310.00 to $275.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Workday from $360.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $296.88.

Workday Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDAY traded up $1.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $222.07. 2,386,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,512,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Workday, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.33 and a 1-year high of $294.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $237.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.22. The firm has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.24.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 5.60%. Workday's revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.59, for a total value of $1,437,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 178,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,747,168.62. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George J. Still, Jr. sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $1,863,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,767,675. The trade was a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,005 shares of company stock worth $79,203,523 in the last three months. 19.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Workday Company 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.