Key Points
- David Duffield, a major Workday shareholder, sold 107,500 shares on March 13 at an average price of $132.67 for roughly $14.26 million, cutting his direct holding by about 50.6% to 105,049 shares.
- Workday beat its recent quarter (reported $2.47 EPS vs. $2.32 expected) with revenue up 14.5% year‑over‑year, but the stock carries a high valuation (P/E ~52) and a market cap near $34.7 billion.
- The company is pushing AI initiatives — notably the global rollout of Sana and new AI governance tools — and has won significant enterprise deals, yet analysts have trimmed price targets and sentiment remains mixed.
Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) major shareholder David Duffield sold 107,500 shares of Workday stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.67, for a total transaction of $14,262,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,936,850.83. This trade represents a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
Workday Stock Performance
Shares of WDAY opened at $135.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. Workday, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.76 and a 1 year high of $276.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $161.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.48.
Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The software maker reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Workday had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 13.37%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.
Key Headlines Impacting Workday
Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Workday announced "Sana" — a global rollout of its conversational superintelligence (Sana for Workday, Sana Self‑Service Agent, and Sana Enterprise) aimed at automating HR/finance workflows and connecting Workday to apps like Gmail, Outlook and Salesforce; this product push could accelerate adoption and expand addressable spend. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Workday rolled out new AI agent control tools for enterprise customers, addressing governance and control concerns that often slow AI deployments — a practical move to help CIOs and procurement teams approve deployments. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Workday won a significant healthcare engagement: Fairview Health Services selected Workday as its core HR/finance platform for a multi‑year transformation (and Workday partnered with MRI Software to link facilities data) — a material enterprise win in a large vertical. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: AppZen completed a Workday Design Approved integration for autonomous expense auditing, expanding Workday's Marketplace ecosystem and making it easier for customers to adopt AI expense controls inside Workday. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Workday is listed among Western U.S. companies expanding operations in Ireland alongside other tech names — a positive sign for international footprint but not an immediate revenue driver. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry comparisons (WDAY vs. IBM) and coverage highlight mixed positioning: Workday's growth is noted, but competitors' cloud/AI strategies and estimate revisions create a mixed analyst backdrop. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares (about $14.3M at the sale price), reducing his direct holding by ~50.6% — a large insider sale that can spook investors even if not tied to company fundamentals. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Critical commentary questions Workday's seat‑based model in an era of autonomous AI agents ("AI agents don't buy seats") and notes the stock's steep YTD decline, feeding skepticism about long‑term revenue implications of agent automation. Read More.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WDAY shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Workday from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Workday from $204.00 to $182.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Workday from $200.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Loop Capital set a $210.00 price objective on Workday in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Nineteen research 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.71.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Workday
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Workday during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Workday in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Workday by 136.4% during the second quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 130 shares of the software maker's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Workday
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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