Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on shares of Workday in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Workday from $304.00 to $298.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Macquarie Infrastructure reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Workday in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Workday in a report on Monday, January 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $238.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.06.

Workday Stock Performance

Shares of WDAY opened at $144.42 on Friday. Workday has a 52-week low of $140.59 and a 52-week high of $281.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.07.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The software maker reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.15. Workday had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Workday’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Workday

In related news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total value of $1,252,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 159,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,224,232.50. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 3,759 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.73, for a total value of $784,616.07. Following the transaction, the insider owned 105,167 shares in the company, valued at $21,951,507.91. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 370,321 shares of company stock valued at $78,866,401 in the last 90 days. 19.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Workday by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,371,495,000 after buying an additional 3,210,232 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Workday in the third quarter worth about $556,252,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Workday during the fourth quarter worth approximately $448,804,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Workday by 47.5% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,491 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,406,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,391 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Workday by 41.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,761,599 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $905,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,421 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.