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

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $113.04, but opened at $117.54. Workday shares last traded at $115.5990, with a volume of 446,658 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDAY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $195.00 price target on Workday in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson set a $135.00 price objective on Workday in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Workday from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on Workday in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.03.

Workday Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.09.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The business’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Workday, Inc. will post 5.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 1,585 shares of Workday stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.05, for a total value of $179,184.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 31,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,557,344.35. This trade represents a 4.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.22, for a total transaction of $769,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 217,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,942,984.60. The trade was a 2.68% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 667,314 shares of company stock valued at $87,564,716. 18.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Workday during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Workday during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Workday during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Workday in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.