First Trust Advisors LP Has $293.91 Million Stake in Workday, Inc. $WDAY

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,220,911 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,979 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Workday were worth $293,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Workday in the third quarter worth $556,252,000. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new position in Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,805,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new position in Workday in the 3rd quarter worth $2,000,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Workday during the 3rd quarter worth $124,718,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Workday during the 2nd quarter worth $442,702,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WDAY shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Workday from $238.00 to $206.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Workday from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Evercore lowered Workday from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Workday from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.19.

Workday Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of WDAY stock opened at $151.04 on Friday. Workday, Inc. has a one year low of $117.76 and a one year high of $276.00. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.12. The stock has a market cap of $39.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Key Workday News

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile endorsement for new leadership: TV host Jim Cramer called Workday’s new CEO “terrific,” which can boost investor sentiment and short‑term demand. Jim Cramer Considers Workday’s New CEO “Terrific”
• Positive Sentiment: Technical/flow support: recent bargain‑hunting and a short‑covering rally have driven quick gains after February’s pullback, attracting momentum traders. Workday (WDAY) Climbs 7.2% on Bargain-Hunting
• Positive Sentiment: Founder returns to CEO role with stronger AI emphasis — investors view this as a signal of strategic focus on AI product development, which could support longer‑term revenue expansion if execution succeeds. Workday Founder Returns As CEO While AI Focus Shapes Valuation Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Board granted CEO Aneel Bhusri a new equity package; this aligns leadership with shareholders but can raise dilution questions depending on structure. Workday Grants CEO Aneel Bhusri New Equity Package
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro backdrop remains a headwind for growth software names (inflation/higher rates), which can cap upside even during sector‑specific rallies. US Stock Market Today S&P 500 Futures Edge Lower On Stubborn Inflation Jitters
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive landscape: emerging AI/analytics startups (e.g., Pigment) are targeting planning/analytics customers — something to monitor but not an immediate earnings threat. The French AI startup gunning for Workday, Oracle, and SAP
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimming targets: Citi cut its price target to $148 (from $247) and Morgan Stanley and others have reduced targets — a clear near‑term drag on sentiment and potential selling pressure. Workday, Inc. (WDAY) Price Target Lowered to $148 at Citi
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sale: co‑founder David Duffield sold 107,500 shares (~$14.4M) and cut his stake roughly in half — markets can interpret this as a negative signal on insider conviction or simply liquidity‑driven. SEC Filing — Duffield Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Estimate‑revision risk: analyst commentary highlights slowing growth, margin pressure and falling EPS revisions as Workday invests in AI and new markets — a potential medium‑term headwind for valuations. Should You Avoid WDAY Stock Amid Declining Estimate Revisions?

Insider Transactions at Workday

In other Workday news, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.40, for a total transaction of $14,448,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at $14,118,585.60. This represents a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Carl M. Eschenbach sold 3,125 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $656,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,590,370. The trade was a 15.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 395,796 shares of company stock valued at $75,909,516. Corporate insiders own 19.31% 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.