Workday Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 19,682 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,756 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WDAY shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Workday in a report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Workday from $206.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Workday from $155.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Workday from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Workday has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.80.

Key Workday News

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Workday launched Workday Learning, powered by Sana, now generally available as an AI-native learning experience built on Workday’s trusted data, adding another AI-focused offering that could support longer-term customer adoption and product momentum. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Workday also announced details for Rising 2026, its annual customer conference, highlighting new AI themes such as agentic HR and agentic finance; this reinforces the company’s AI strategy but is not an immediate financial catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares have been weighed down by bearish analyst calls, including a Morgan Stanley downgrade to Underweight and a lower price target, with concerns that AI-driven growth will ramp gradually and that Workday’s core business is still slowing. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually heavy put option activity suggests traders are positioning for more downside, which can add to negative sentiment around the stock.

Workday Stock Down 6.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDAY opened at $132.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.11. Workday has a 52-week low of $110.36 and a 52-week high of $249.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.43.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Workday will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

In related news, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.74, for a total transaction of $14,699,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,364,400.26. The trade was a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.70, for a total value of $862,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 288,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,451,702. The trade was a 2.04% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 875,020 shares of company stock worth $113,938,503. Corporate insiders own 18.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Workday by 25,412.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,190,516 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Workday by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,371,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210,232 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Workday by 101.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Workday during the 4th quarter worth $448,804,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Workday by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,338,773 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $931,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.