Baillie Gifford & Co. Lowers Stake in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its holdings in Workday, Inc. by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, owning approximately 5.6 million shares post-sale.
• Insider transactions included major shareholder David A. Duffield selling 73,971 shares at an average price of $238.66, decreasing his ownership by 41.80%.
• Workday reported $2.23 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 12.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.24 billion.

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its position in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,623,652 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 709,485 shares during the quarter. Workday makes up 1.1% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 2.11% of Workday worth $1,313,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Workday by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,637,387 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,193,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,223 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Workday by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,722,255 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $960,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,088 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Workday by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,530,701 shares of the software maker's stock worth $911,027,000 after purchasing an additional 52,104 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Workday by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,963,124 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $764,575,000 after buying an additional 181,899 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Workday by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,663,398 shares of the software maker's stock worth $687,237,000 after purchasing an additional 136,211 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDAY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Workday from $320.00 to $275.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson raised their price target on Workday from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Workday in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Workday from $310.00 to $295.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $296.88.

Workday Trading Down 1.6%

WDAY stock traded down $3.75 during trading on Monday, hitting $237.99. 1,075,032 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,258,859. The company has a 50-day moving average of $242.57 and a 200-day moving average of $246.62. Workday, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.81 and a 1 year high of $294.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.54 billion, a PE ratio of 131.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

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

About Workday

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.