Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Workday has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 35 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $185.03.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $2.66 EPS versus $2.51 expected and revenue of $2.54 billion, up 13.5% year over year.
• Despite solid results, the stock was trading at $121.83, well below its 200-day moving average of $157.53 and its 12-month high of $249.85.

Shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have issued a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $185.0303.

WDAY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Workday from $206.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Workday from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Workday from $155.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Workday in a report on Monday, May 18th.

Workday Price Performance

WDAY stock opened at $121.83 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $127.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.53. Workday has a 12-month low of $110.36 and a 12-month high of $249.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.07, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Workday will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Workday

In other news, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,373 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total transaction of $695,319.93. Following the transaction, the insider owned 165,414 shares in the company, valued at $21,406,225.74. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.22, for a total transaction of $769,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 217,930 shares in the company, valued at $27,942,984.60. This represents a 2.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold 774,814 shares of company stock valued at $102,272,866 in the last 90 days. 18.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDAY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Workday by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $5,371,495,000 after buying an additional 3,210,232 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised 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 acquiring an additional 10,190,516 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Workday by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,770,707 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,098,552,000 after acquiring an additional 96,139 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Workday by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,491 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,406,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Workday by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,091,926 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,089,970,000 after acquiring an additional 75,922 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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.