Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $144.78, but opened at $140.48. Workday shares last traded at $143.1320, with a volume of 376,712 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDAY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Workday from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair raised Workday to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Workday from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Workday from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Workday presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.80.

Workday Trading Down 4.1%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $34.87 billion, a PE ratio of 44.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.15. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Workday, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.70, for a total value of $862,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 288,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,451,702. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.04, for a total transaction of $13,119,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at $12,820,179.96. The trade was a 50.58% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 875,020 shares of company stock valued at $113,938,503. 18.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Workday by 25,412.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 10,230,616 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,197,332,000 after buying an additional 10,190,516 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Workday by 14.7% during 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 during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Workday by 101.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,017,905 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,077,537,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,821 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $448,804,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Workday by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,338,773 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $931,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028,085 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.