Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Workday from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Workday from $265.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Workday from $270.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Workday from $204.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Workday from $298.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.19.

Workday Stock Performance

Shares of Workday stock opened at $133.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $179.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.85, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Workday has a 52 week low of $117.76 and a 52 week high of $276.00.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The software maker reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Workday had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 13.37%. Workday’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Workday

In related news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.56, for a total transaction of $199,710.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 35,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,405,012.16. This trade represents a 2.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 82,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.75, for a total value of $17,384,919.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,034,027.75. The trade was a 44.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 370,321 shares of company stock valued at $78,866,401. 19.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Workday

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Workday by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,371,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210,232 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Workday by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,770,707 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,098,552,000 after purchasing an additional 96,139 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Workday by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,491 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,406,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,391 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Workday by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,091,926 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,089,970,000 after purchasing an additional 75,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Workday by 101.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,017,905 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,077,537,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,821 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Workday News

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Insperity partnership expands Workday into the SMB market with the general availability of Insperity HRScale, pairing Workday HCM with outsourced HR services — a tangible route to new recurring revenue and smaller-account penetration. Workday And Insperity Target SMB Growth With New HRScale Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Healthcare integrations: Kahuna and Skillcentrix will bring clinically validated skills data into Workday for frontline healthcare workforces, strengthening industry-specific stickiness and compliance value of the platform. Kahuna and Skillcentrix Partner to Bring Trusted, Clinically Validated Skills Data into Workday
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish coverage and buyback/institutional support arguments note solid Q4 execution (revenue and EPS beat, margin expansion) and argue the pullback presents a long-term buying opportunity. Workday, Seriously, It’s Time to Buy This SaaS Leader
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results mixed: revenue and EPS topped expectations and margins improved, but management issued softer near-term guidance (2027), creating uncertainty around growth cadence despite operating leverage. Workday (WDAY) Is Down 9.0% After Softer 2027 Outlook and CEO Shift Back to Co-Founder
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions are mixed — some firms raised or maintained Buy ratings and raised targets, while many cut price targets after the guidance miss; that spread increases short-term volatility as investors sort the outlook. Workday Given New $206.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group
• Negative Sentiment: Significant analyst downgrades and price-target cuts (e.g., DA Davidson to $125, Citi cut to $148, UBS to $130 and multiple others) have pressured the stock and triggered a gap down in early trading. Workday price target lowered to $125 from $250 at DA Davidson
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/sector risk: renewed AI-selloff and skepticism about how AI will reshape enterprise software have depressed valuation multiples across SaaS names and increased investor risk aversion for names like Workday. Commentary from high‑profile commentators has added to the negative sentiment. Will AI Kill Software? Fear Creeps Beyond ‘Saaspocalypse,’ Hits IBM, DoorDash
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction driven by guidance cut and executive leadership change (co‑founder Aneel Bhusri returning as CEO) increased uncertainty and likely accelerated selling pressure. Workday Retreats As Fiscal 2027 Guidance Falls Short Amid CEO’s Return

About Workday

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.