Insider Selling: Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Major Shareholder Sells 107,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• David Duffield, a major Workday shareholder, sold 107,500 shares on March 10 at an average price of $142.18, generating about $15.28 million and reducing his stake by roughly 50.6% to 105,049 shares.
• Workday beat Q4 estimates with $2.47 EPS and $2.53 billion in revenue (up 14.5% year‑over‑year), but management commentary on subscription growth and higher planned spending has led analysts to trim price targets.
• The insider sale and lowered analyst targets have added near‑term downward pressure on the stock (shares traded around $134.14), despite a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and an average price target near $203.

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) major shareholder David Duffield sold 107,500 shares of Workday stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.18, for a total transaction of $15,284,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,935,866.82. This trade represents a 50.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Workday Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDAY traded down $3.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $134.14. 4,422,470 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,246,652. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.99, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.16. Workday, Inc. has a one year low of $117.76 and a one year high of $276.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.24.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The software maker reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 7.26%.Workday's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Workday

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large enterprise win: Fairview Health Services selected Workday’s full AI‑powered HR, finance and supply‑chain suite, a notable healthcare customer addition that should bolster enterprise pipeline and recurring revenue visibility. Fairview Health Services Selects Workday
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships extend product reach: Workday named Lyra Health its preferred mental‑health partner for Workday Wellness and launched the Insperity HRScale solution, expanding foothold in employee wellness and the SMB HR market — potential drivers of cross‑sell and usage. Workday Expands HCM Reach With Lyra Partnership And Insperity HRScale Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Industry recognition and partner ecosystem: Workday continues to be highlighted in partner awards and integrations that reinforce its services ecosystem and implementation channel. 2020 Companies Names Workday Strategic Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory and compliance tooling in the ecosystem: Kognitiv & Syndio partnership to support EU pay‑transparency could benefit Workday customers via partners and integrations, but has indirect impact on Workday revenue. Kognitiv and Syndio Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: Product integrations broaden HR workflows: Persona launched candidate verification with integrations into Workday, which can improve hiring workflows for mutual customers but is incremental for Workday’s top line. Persona Launches Candidate Verification
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and guidance pressure: Analysts have trimmed fair‑value estimates and called out softer subscription guidance and higher planned spending after Q4 and management changes — a primary driver of recent negative sentiment and share weakness. How Workday Story Is Shifting
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: A major shareholder sold roughly $15.8M of WDAY stock, which can add to short‑term downward pressure on the shares even if not indicative of company fundamentals. Insider Selling: Workday Major Shareholder Sells

Institutional Trading of Workday

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Workday in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Workday during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Workday during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Workday during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Workday in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Workday from $238.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Workday from $270.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Workday from $250.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Workday from $230.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Workday from $204.00 to $182.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.00.

About Workday

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.

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