Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Workday Put Options (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Key Points

• Workday saw unusually heavy bearish options activity on Wednesday, with traders buying 19,682 put options, about 67% above its normal daily volume.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CFO Zane Rowe and major shareholder David A. Duffield; overall insider sales totaled 875,020 shares worth about $113.9 million over the past 90 days.
• Workday shares fell sharply and analysts remain mixed, with the stock down $8.75 to $132.42 after the report. The consensus rating is still “Moderate Buy,” though price targets range widely from bearish to bullish.

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 19,682 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,756 put options.

Insider Activity

In other Workday news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.70, for a total transaction of $862,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 288,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,451,702. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.04, for a total transaction of $13,119,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,820,179.96. This represents a 50.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 875,020 shares of company stock worth $113,938,503 over the last 90 days. 18.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDAY. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Workday in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Workday in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Workday in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Workday in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Workday Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDAY traded down $8.75 on Wednesday, reaching $132.42. 4,269,457 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,094,338. Workday has a fifty-two week low of $110.36 and a fifty-two week high of $249.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.01.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Workday will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDAY. HC Wainwright set a $140.00 target price on Workday in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. CLSA began coverage on Workday in a research note on Monday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Workday from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Workday from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Workday from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.80.

Workday Company Profile

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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