Insider Selling: Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Major Shareholder Sells $18,924,777.69 in Stock

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) major shareholder David Duffield sold 94,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.29, for a total transaction of $18,924,777.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 105,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,935,215.21. This trade represents a 47.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Workday Price Performance

Workday stock traded up $6.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $206.92. 2,980,276 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,077,104. Workday, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.36 and a 1-year high of $249.85. The firm has a market cap of $51.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The software maker reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.14. Workday had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Workday, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Workday from $165.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Workday from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Workday from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Workday from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Freedom Broker cut Workday from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Workday currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $206.34.

Institutional Trading of Workday

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Workday by 11,770.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,907,426 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,518,207,000 after purchasing an additional 36,596,516 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Workday by 25,412.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 10,230,616 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,197,332,000 after buying an additional 10,190,516 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,077,537,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,821 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.