Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $285.00 to $260.00. The stock had previously closed at $233.69, but opened at $215.34. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Workday shares last traded at $214.08, with a volume of 1,530,850 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on WDAY. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Workday from $310.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on Workday in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Workday from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Workday from $295.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.17.

Insider Transactions at Workday

In related news, Director Michael M. Mcnamara sold 5,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.16, for a total transaction of $1,268,217.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,662,182.48. This trade represents a 18.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.62, for a total value of $1,395,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,189,026.16. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 264,933 shares of company stock worth $61,475,760. Company insiders own 20.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Workday by 1.0% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,381 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Workday by 1.6% in the first quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 2,968 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Workday by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Workday by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Workday by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 458 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Workday Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $56.52 billion, a PE ratio of 98.01, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The software maker reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Workday had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 9.74%. Workday’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Workday

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.