National Pension Service Acquires 49,070 Shares of Workday, Inc. $WDAY

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 460,512 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,070 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Workday were worth $56,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Workday during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,115,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Workday in the 4th quarter worth about $448,804,000. S&CO Inc. bought a new stake in Workday in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,284,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Workday by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 55,605 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,943,000 after buying an additional 15,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Workday news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 918 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.19, for a total transaction of $130,530.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 73,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,481,962.42. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.90, for a total value of $724,952.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 239,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,304,368.10. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 738,096 shares of company stock valued at $106,054,737. Insiders own 18.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WDAY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Workday from $216.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Workday from $165.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Workday from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Workday from $139.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Workday from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $206.34.

Trending Headlines about Workday

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: DBS Bank upgraded Workday to “Hold,” providing a more favorable view of the stock after its recent recovery. The rating follows Workday’s latest earnings report, in which revenue rose 12.8% year over year to $2.65 billion and adjusted earnings exceeded expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: New chief marketing officer: Workday appointed Sarah Kennedy Ellis as chief marketing officer, effective October 5. Her experience is expected to support the company’s enterprise AI positioning, brand expansion and go-to-market strategy. Workday Names Sarah Kennedy Ellis Chief Marketing Officer
• Positive Sentiment: Industry recognition: Workday was named a leading human-capital-management provider for the 11th consecutive year, reinforcing the strength of its core HCM franchise and competitive position. Workday named HCM leader for 11th straight year
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data: Reported short interest was zero, producing a zero-day short ratio. Because the figures show no meaningful short position, the data provides little indication of near-term buying or short-covering pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Major shareholder David Duffield sold 90,615 shares worth approximately $17.95 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 46.3%. Workday’s CFO also sold 2,808 shares for about $550,000. Planned transactions do not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals, but the sales can weigh on sentiment.

Workday Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDAY opened at $185.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $171.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.23. Workday, Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.36 and a 52-week high of $249.85.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The software maker reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.64 billion. Workday had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Workday, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Workday

Workday, Inc develops cloud-based enterprise software designed to help organizations manage finance, human resources and related business operations. Its platform provides tools for financial management, accounting, procurement, expenses, payroll, workforce management, recruiting, talent management, employee experience and enterprise planning.

The company also offers analytics, reporting and artificial intelligence capabilities that support budgeting, forecasting, workforce planning and business decision-making.