Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• "Moderate Buy" consensus from 35 analysts (20 buy, 15 hold) with an average 12‑month price target of $205.19, although several brokers have recently trimmed targets (e.g., KeyCorp to $155, Sanford Bernstein to $214, Deutsche Bank to $190).
• Major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares on March 5 for about $15.8M, and insiders have offloaded roughly 503,296 shares (~$91.7M) in the past 90 days despite insiders still owning about 20% of the company.
• Workday beat Q4 estimates with $2.47 EPS vs. $2.32 expected and revenue of $2.53B (up 14.5% YoY), but the stock trades near $148—well below its 12‑month high of $276—and carries a high P/E of ~57.4.

Shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.1875.

WDAY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Workday from $260.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Loop Capital set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Workday from $298.00 to $214.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Workday from $265.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.16, for a total transaction of $15,819,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,459,010.84. The trade was a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard Harry Sauer sold 1,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $237,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,933,580. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 503,296 shares of company stock valued at $91,729,216 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Workday during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Workday by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 130 shares of the software maker's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Workday Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDAY opened at $148.14 on Tuesday. Workday has a 12-month low of $117.76 and a 12-month high of $276.00. The company has a market cap of $38.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The software maker reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 7.26%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.