Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) Short Interest Up 25.8% in August

Key Points

• Workday, Inc. experienced a significant increase in short interest, with a total of 10,440,000 shares sold short as of August 31st, representing a 25.8% growth in just two weeks.
• Several insiders, including CFO Zane Rowe, have sold shares recently, with total insider sales amounting to $76.39 million over the past ninety days.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Workday, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Hold," and an average target price estimated at $287.83.

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 10,440,000 shares, an increase of 25.8% from the August 15th total of 8,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDAY has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim raised shares of Workday from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $304.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $255.00 price target on shares of Workday and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Workday from $300.00 to $270.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Workday from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.83.

Insider Activity at Workday

In related news, CEO Carl M. Eschenbach sold 6,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.43, for a total transaction of $1,496,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $352,440.96. This represents a 80.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard Harry Sauer sold 1,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.41, for a total transaction of $273,075.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 95,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,541,919.96. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 328,024 shares of company stock worth $76,664,934 in the last 90 days. 19.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Workday by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 318 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Workday by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Workday by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,381 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,051,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Workday by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 353 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Workday by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,896 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Workday Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDAY traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $233.62. 5,925,724 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,598,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The firm has a market cap of $62.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $228.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.13. Workday has a 1 year low of $205.33 and a 1 year high of $294.00.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The software maker reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.12. Workday had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Workday has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Workday Company Profile

Workday, Inc provides enterprise cloud applications in the United States and internationally. Its applications help its customers to plan, execute, analyze, and extend to other applications and environments to manage their business and operations. The company offers a suite of financial management applications to maintain accounting information in the general ledger; manage financial processes, such as payables and receivables; identify real-time financial, operational, and management insights; enhance financial consolidation; reduce time-to-close; promote internal control and auditability; and achieve consistency across finance operations.