Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $259.73, but opened at $272.44. Workday shares last traded at $265.66, with a volume of 1,327,179 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDAY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded Workday from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Workday from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Workday from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Workday from $270.00 to $242.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Workday has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.43.

Workday Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $261.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $74.48 billion, a PE ratio of 46.30, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.35.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The software maker reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.13. Workday had a net margin of 19.86% and a return on equity of 6.13%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Workday’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Workday

In other Workday news, insider Sayan Chakraborty sold 5,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $1,378,788.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,369,458. This represents a 4.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 70,003 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.20, for a total value of $17,584,753.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,872,846.40. This trade represents a 40.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 438,819 shares of company stock worth $113,142,592 over the last quarter. Insiders own 20.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Workday in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Workday in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in Workday by 452.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 105 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Workday by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 145 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Workday

Workday, Inc provides enterprise cloud applications in the United States and internationally. Its applications help its customers to plan, execute, analyze, and extend to other applications and environments to manage their business and operations. The company offers a suite of financial management applications to maintain accounting information in the general ledger; manage financial processes, such as payables and receivables; identify real-time financial, operational, and management insights; enhance financial consolidation; reduce time-to-close; promote internal control and auditability; and achieve consistency across finance operations.