Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) Shares Purchased by Banco Santander S.A.

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in Workday, Inc. by 18.6%, owning 11,575 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Workday's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $2.23, surpassing estimates, with revenue growth of 12.6% year-over-year, amounting to $2.24 billion.
• Several equities analysts have issued mixed ratings changes for Workday, with a consensus average price target of $296.88 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,575 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Workday were worth $2,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDAY. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter worth $658,735,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Workday by 60.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,722,255 shares of the software maker's stock worth $960,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,088 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Workday by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,855,778 shares of the software maker's stock worth $478,846,000 after purchasing an additional 939,955 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Workday by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,263,981 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $584,175,000 after purchasing an additional 767,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Workday in the 4th quarter worth about $183,516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Workday news, CEO Carl M. Eschenbach sold 6,250 shares of Workday stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.43, for a total transaction of $1,496,437.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $352,440.96. The trade was a 80.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 73,971 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $17,653,918.86. Following the transaction, the insider owned 102,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,581,264.02. This trade represents a 41.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 329,005 shares of company stock worth $79,203,523. 19.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Workday Stock Up 1.8%

WDAY stock traded up $4.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $229.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,316,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,509,101. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $238.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.56, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Workday, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.33 and a 52-week high of $294.00.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WDAY shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price target on shares of Workday and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Workday from $320.00 to $275.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Westpark Capital boosted their price target on Workday from $315.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Workday from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $296.88.

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.