Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $300.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 76.32% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WDAY. Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on shares of Workday in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 price target for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Workday from $261.00 to $247.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Workday in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Loop Capital set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Workday from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Workday has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.00.

Workday Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDAY opened at $170.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a PE ratio of 71.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.13. Workday has a fifty-two week low of $156.87 and a fifty-two week high of $283.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.83.

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

Insider Activity at Workday

In related news, insider Gerrit S. Kazmaier sold 6,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.77, for a total value of $1,432,287.19. Following the sale, the insider owned 111,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,360,695.81. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total transaction of $1,252,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 159,158 shares in the company, valued at $33,224,232.50. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 370,321 shares of company stock worth $78,866,401. Insiders own 19.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 14.7% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Workday by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,674,568 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,328,959,000 after acquiring an additional 74,052 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Workday by 47.5% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Workday by 2.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,952,938 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,183,112,000 after purchasing an additional 140,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Workday by 87.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors 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.