Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,198 Shares of Workday, Inc. $WDAY

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) by 22.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,696 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,198 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Workday were worth $5,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Workday by 7.6% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,033,026 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $577,639,000 after acquiring an additional 213,618 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Workday by 43.6% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,439,456 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $176,218,000 after acquiring an additional 437,175 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Workday by 9.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,416,176 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $183,990,000 after acquiring an additional 124,524 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Workday by 60.4% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,227,051 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $159,418,000 after purchasing an additional 462,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in Workday by 9.5% in the first quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 889,318 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $115,540,000 after purchasing an additional 77,330 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 918 shares of Workday stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.45, for a total value of $173,915.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 69,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,130,590.05. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.23, for a total value of $1,123,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 269,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,485,071.66. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 988,104 shares of company stock valued at $188,811,574 over the last three months. Company insiders own 18.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WDAY shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective (down from $285.00) on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Workday from $216.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Freedom Broker lowered Workday from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, August 28th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Workday from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Workday from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Workday has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $202.10.

Workday Stock Performance

Shares of Workday stock opened at $190.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Workday, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.36 and a 1 year high of $236.80.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The software maker reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.64 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 12.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Workday, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Workday Profile

Workday, Inc. develops cloud-based software for managing human resources, finance and business operations. Its products include Workday Human Capital Management, Workday Financial Management and Workday Adaptive Planning, which help organizations manage areas such as workforce administration, accounting, budgeting and forecasting. Founded in 2005 by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri, Workday serves businesses, governments and educational institutions across a range of industries. Its operations and customer base extend across North America and international markets.