Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) gapped up before the market opened 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WDAY. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Workday from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Workday from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised Workday from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.03.

Workday Trading Up 1.2%

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

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. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Workday, Inc. will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.22, for a total transaction of $769,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 217,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,942,984.60. This represents a 2.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total value of $695,319.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,406,225.74. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders sold 667,314 shares of company stock worth $87,564,716. 18.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDAY. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Workday during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Workday in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Workday during the third quarter worth $30,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently 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.