Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Stock Price

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) had its price target lowered by Sanford C. Bernstein from $298.00 to $214.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the software maker’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 53.84% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WDAY. Barclays decreased their target price on Workday from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Workday from $265.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Workday from $240.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Workday from $270.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.19.

Workday Price Performance

Shares of WDAY opened at $139.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $181.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.44. Workday has a 1-year low of $117.76 and a 1-year high of $276.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.59 billion, a PE ratio of 53.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.13.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The software maker reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 7.26%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Workday

In other news, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 6,547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.77, for a total transaction of $1,432,287.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 111,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,360,695.81. This represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carl M. Eschenbach sold 3,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $656,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,590,370. This represents a 15.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 370,321 shares of company stock worth $78,866,401 in the last quarter. 19.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Workday

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Workday by 230.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,005 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Workday by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,142 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Workday by 211.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Workday in the second quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Workday by 8.6% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,738 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Workday

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat — Workday reported stronger-than-expected Q4 revenue and EPS with subscription growth and margin expansion, a fundamental positive that supports long‑term revenue/unit economics. Workday Q4 Earnings Beat (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Selective analyst support remains — Several firms (Needham, Guggenheim and others) continue Buy/Outperform calls with high price targets, underwriting upside if execution and guidance normalize. Needham Buy Rating (American Banking News)
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships and product moves — New offerings such as the Insperity HRScale rollout expand SMB reach but are not game‑changing near term. Insperity HRScale (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Weak FY27 subscription guidance — Management’s below‑consensus subscription revenue outlook and comments on longer deal timelines triggered the selloff and renewed AI‑disruption concerns. Workday tumbles on dour outlook (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread analyst price‑target cuts and downgrades — A cluster of PT reductions (UBS, Piper Sandler, DA Davidson, Goldman and others) has amplified selling pressure and market uncertainty. Analysts cut forecasts (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped (~34% month over month) — Rising short activity adds downward pressure and increases volatility risk until sentiment stabilizes.
• Negative Sentiment: Public skepticism and investor headlines — High‑profile critics (including Jim Cramer) questioning Workday’s transition and AI positioning have contributed to negative sentiment. Jim Cramer comments (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Recent firm‑level downgrades (Citigroup, UBS, Piper Sandler) — New cuts to price targets and neutral/hold stances (including a Citigroup PT reset to $148) sustain selling momentum. Analyst PT changes (Benzinga)

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.