Ethic Inc. Reduces Stake in Workday, Inc. $WDAY

Ethic Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,899 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,697 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Workday were worth $3,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Workday by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,641 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC acquired a new stake in Workday during the 3rd quarter worth $276,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Workday by 2.7% in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC boosted its stake in Workday by 1.7% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 3,545 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 18.9% during the third quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 15,595 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard Harry Sauer sold 2,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.87, for a total value of $547,218.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 90,077 shares in the company, valued at $21,246,461.99. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 82,025 shares of Workday stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.19, for a total value of $17,404,884.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at $22,290,347.31. This represents a 43.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 340,966 shares of company stock valued at $75,095,274 over the last ninety days. 20.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Workday Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDAY opened at $216.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $224.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.95. Workday, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.33 and a 1-year high of $283.68.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The software maker reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.15. Workday had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Workday’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WDAY shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Macquarie reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Workday in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Workday from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on shares of Workday in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.22.

Workday 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.