Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Stock Price Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) shares shot up 4.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $144.87 and last traded at $144.7470. Approximately 1,242,878 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 5,155,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WDAY. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. William Blair raised Workday to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Workday in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Workday from $300.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.00.

Workday Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $129.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.76. The stock has a market cap of $34.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. Workday had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Workday’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Workday, Inc. will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Workday

In related news, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.04, for a total value of $13,119,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,820,179.96. This represents 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 this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 2,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.62, for a total value of $391,795.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 266,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,258,644.56. This trade represents a 1.01% 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 sold a total of 768,187 shares of company stock worth $99,287,607 over the last 90 days. 18.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Workday

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Workday during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Workday during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Workday in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Workday in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 89.81% of the stock is 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.