Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Given “Neutral” Rating at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their neutral rating on shares of Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $145.00 price target on the software maker’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WDAY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research note on Monday, May 18th. CLSA initiated coverage on Workday in a report on Monday, July 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $92.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Summit Redstone set a $275.00 target price on Workday in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Workday has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.36.

Workday Stock Performance

Workday stock opened at $198.68 on Friday. Workday has a 52 week low of $110.36 and a 52 week high of $249.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $49.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $144.40 and a 200-day moving average of $139.30.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Workday had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Workday will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

In related news, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.74, for a total transaction of $14,699,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at $14,364,400.26. This represents a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.90, for a total transaction of $724,952.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 239,469 shares in the company, valued at $32,304,368.10. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 875,020 shares of company stock worth $113,938,503. 18.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDAY. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Workday in the second quarter worth $42,000. Ally Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Workday during the second quarter valued at $3,183,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Workday during the second quarter valued at $11,833,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Workday during the second quarter worth about $1,115,000. Finally, S&CO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Workday during the second quarter worth about $2,284,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Workday News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Private-equity firm Silver Lake is reportedly in discussions to acquire Workday in a potential transaction valued at roughly $43 billion. Analysts said a deal could provide a significant premium, with one estimate placing Workday’s takeover value at $240–$250 per share. However, the discussions remain preliminary, and there is no assurance that an agreement will be reached. Silver Lake in talks to buy Workday, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors said a potential Workday buyout could restore confidence in beaten-down software valuations and encourage broader software mergers and acquisitions. The transaction may signal that private-equity firms still see durable value in enterprise software despite concerns about artificial-intelligence disruption. Workday buyout may restore confidence in battered software valuations
• Positive Sentiment: Workday recently reported quarterly revenue of $2.54 billion, up 13.5% year over year, while earnings exceeded analyst expectations. The company also maintained fiscal 2027 subscription-revenue guidance of $9.925 billion to $9.950 billion, supporting the view that the underlying business remains stable.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions are mixed: Baird raised its target to $215 and maintained an outperform rating, while BMO reiterated a Buy rating with a $182 target. Piper Sandler reaffirmed Neutral with a $145 target, highlighting substantial disagreement over Workday’s standalone valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: With no definitive deal announcement or regulatory filing confirming terms, traders appear to be taking profits and reducing expectations that a transaction will close soon. Reported insider activity is also heavily weighted toward sales, including substantial selling by David Duffield, adding a cautionary signal.

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.