Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Monness Crespi & Hardt

Key Points

• Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Workday from “neutral” to “buy” and set a $150 price target, implying about 27% upside from the prior close.
• Workday’s latest quarterly results were solid: EPS of $2.66 beat estimates and revenue of $2.54 billion slightly topped forecasts, with revenue up 13.5% year over year.
• The stock was trading at $118.10 after the update, well below its 200-day moving average of $154.06, while analysts overall still view it as a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $184.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Monness Crespi & Hardt from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $150.00 price target on the software maker's stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt's price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.01% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Workday from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Workday from $285.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore lowered Workday from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $184.00.

Workday Stock Performance

WDAY stock opened at $118.10 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.06. 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 current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.09.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Workday will post 5.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

In related news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 217,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,942,984.60. This represents a 2.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,373 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total value of $695,319.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 165,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,406,225.74. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 774,814 shares of company stock valued at $99,846,591. Corporate insiders own 18.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDAY. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at $556,252,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Workday during the 4th quarter worth approximately $448,804,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Workday by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 55,605 shares of the software maker's stock worth $11,943,000 after acquiring an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Workday by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 571,766 shares of the software maker's stock worth $122,804,000 after purchasing an additional 88,384 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Workday by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 27,043 shares of the software maker's stock worth $5,808,000 after buying an additional 15,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

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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