Insider Selling: Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Major Shareholder Sells 98,446 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder David Duffield sold 98,446 Workday shares at an average price of $187.07, generating approximately $18.4 million. The transaction reduced his direct stake by 48.38% and was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• Workday shares rose 1.5% to $188.96, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: adjusted EPS was $2.75 versus the $2.61 consensus, and revenue increased 12.8% year over year to $2.65 billion.
• Institutional investors own approximately 89.81% of Workday’s stock. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $206.34.

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) major shareholder David Duffield sold 98,446 shares of Workday stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.07, for a total value of $18,416,293.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,651,516.43. This trade represents a 48.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Workday Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Workday stock traded up $2.82 on Monday, hitting $188.96. 2,176,417 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,787,787. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $187.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Workday, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.36 and a 12-month high of $247.40. The company has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.07.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The software maker reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.14. Workday had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Workday, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Workday by 25,412.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 10,230,616 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,197,332,000 after buying an additional 10,190,516 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Workday by 101.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,017,905 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,077,537,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,821 shares during the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday in the fourth quarter worth about $184,083,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Workday by 840.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 765,049 shares of the software maker's stock worth $164,317,000 after purchasing an additional 683,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lead Edge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Workday during the 1st quarter worth about $79,988,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDAY has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Workday from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Workday from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Freedom Broker lowered shares of Workday from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Workday from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $206.34.

Workday Company Profile

Workday, Inc develops cloud-based enterprise software for managing an organization's people, finances and operations. Its platform is primarily used by businesses, government agencies and educational institutions to support human resources, finance, planning, analytics and related administrative processes.

The company's offerings include Workday Human Capital Management, Financial Management, Adaptive Planning, Spend Management, payroll, recruiting, talent management, learning and workforce analytics.

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