NZS Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Workday, Inc. $WDAY

NZS Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 405,514 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $97,619,000. Workday comprises 3.0% of NZS Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. NZS Capital LLC owned about 0.15% of Workday as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Workday Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDAY opened at $143.61 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $176.41 and a 200-day moving average of $210.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.66, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.16. Workday, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.76 and a fifty-two week high of $276.00.

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

Workday News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Workday expanded its HR partner ecosystem — adding HR Acuity and launching a joint solution with Insperity (Insperity HRScale) — which can boost adoption among small/mid-size employers and strengthen HCM stickiness. HR Acuity Joins the Workday Innovation Partner Program
• Positive Sentiment: Positive industry commentary from Sequoia partner Alfred Lin — saying software remains an attractive area to invest despite AI-driven fears — lifts sentiment for large SaaS names like Workday that sell mission?critical HR/finance platforms. Why Sequoia’s Alfred Lin isn’t worried about the SaaS-pocalypse
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary debating whether Workday marked a bottom for the SaaS group has likely encouraged buyers looking for cyclical recovery plays in enterprise software. Did Workday Help Signal the SaaS Bottom?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street analyst coverage and “average brokerage recommendation” stories (and Zacks pieces) are keeping attention on WDAY; analyst optimism can amplify intraday moves but is often noisy and may already be priced in. Is It Worth Investing in Workday (WDAY) Based on Wall Street’s Bullish Views? Zacks: Is It Worth Investing in Workday?
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha piece lowered its fair?value estimate and argues Workday’s fundamentals don’t justify current multiples, echoing valuation concerns (WDAY trades with a high P/E and remains below its 50/200?day moving averages), which can cap upside if sentiment shifts. Workday: I’m Lowering My Fair Value Estimate…

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDAY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Workday from $230.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Workday from $280.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $175.00 price objective on Workday in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Workday from $170.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.75, for a total value of $1,252,500.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 82,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.75, for a total transaction of $17,384,919.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at $22,034,027.75. This trade represents a 44.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 288,296 shares of company stock worth $61,461,516 in the last quarter. 20.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.