Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Cut to “Hold” at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker lowered shares of Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $200.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $180.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Workday from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Workday from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Workday from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 target price on Workday in a research report on Friday. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Workday currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $206.00.

Workday Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDAY opened at $204.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $50.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.53, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $157.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.71. Workday has a 52 week low of $110.36 and a 52 week high of $249.85.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The software maker reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.64 billion. Workday had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Workday will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

In other Workday news, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,820,179.96. This trade represents a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.90, for a total value of $724,952.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 239,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,304,368.10. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 875,020 shares of company stock valued at $113,938,503. 18.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Workday

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDAY. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Workday in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Workday during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Workday in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Workday in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Workday in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Workday News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Workday reported fiscal Q2 revenue of $2.649 billion, up 12.8% year over year, while subscription revenue increased 13.9% to $2.471 billion. Adjusted EPS of $2.75 exceeded the $2.61 consensus estimate. Workday Announces Fiscal 2027 Second Quarter Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability was a major bright spot: net income rose sharply to $632 million from $228 million a year earlier, and analysts cited subscription growth and expanding margins as reasons for increased price targets. WDAY Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Subscription Growth, Margin Gains
• Positive Sentiment: AI products accounted for more than one-quarter of new contract value, suggesting growing customer demand for Workday’s AI agents and supporting the company’s longer-term growth strategy. AI Products Accounted for More Than a Quarter of Workday’s New Q2 Contract Value
• Positive Sentiment: Workday authorized a substantial $4 billion share-repurchase program, potentially providing support for per-share results and signaling confidence in cash generation and valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms raised their targets after the report, including BMO Capital Markets and Needham to $230, KeyCorp to $215 and Monness to $218, with buy, overweight or outperform ratings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains divided. Some see AI momentum and margin expansion driving upside, while others believe the current valuation already reflects much of the improvement.
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer characterized the results as evidence that there is no broad SaaS-sector meltdown, supporting sentiment toward enterprise software stocks. Jim Cramer Says Workday Results Show No SaaS Meltdown in Sight
• Negative Sentiment: Workday’s fiscal 2027 revenue outlook of approximately $9.9 billion to $10.0 billion was below the roughly $10.7 billion analyst consensus, raising concerns about a potential slowdown and the risk of another guidance reduction. Workday’s outlook meets estimates despite AI demand
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen, Freedom Broker, Piper Sandler and DA Davidson maintained neutral or hold views, with targets ranging from $190 to $210—mostly indicating limited upside or downside from recent levels.

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.