Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on WDAY. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Workday from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Workday from $261.00 to $247.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Workday from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.06.

Workday Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of WDAY stock opened at $144.42 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $194.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.19. The firm has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 60.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. Workday has a 1-year low of $140.59 and a 1-year high of $281.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The software maker reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. Workday had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Workday news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total transaction of $1,252,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 159,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,224,232.50. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Carl M. Eschenbach sold 3,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $656,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,097 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,370. This represents a 15.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 370,321 shares of company stock valued at $78,866,401. Company insiders own 20.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Workday

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Workday by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,371,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210,232 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Workday in the third quarter valued at about $556,252,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Workday during the fourth quarter worth about $448,804,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Workday by 47.5% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,491 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,406,463,000 after buying an additional 1,882,391 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Workday by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,761,599 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $905,530,000 after buying an additional 1,103,421 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.