Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Cut to “Neutral” at BTIG Research

BTIG Research lowered shares of Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

WDAY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Workday from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Workday in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Workday from $150.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. CLSA assumed coverage on shares of Workday in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Summit Redstone set a $275.00 price target on Workday in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.17.

Workday Price Performance

Shares of WDAY opened at $198.42 on Monday. Workday has a 12 month low of $110.36 and a 12 month high of $249.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.14. The company has a market cap of $49.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.01, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.08.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The software maker reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.15. Workday had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 8.60%.The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Workday will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Workday

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.19, for a total value of $130,530.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 73,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,481,962.42. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 that occurred on Sunday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.90, for a total transaction of $724,952.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 239,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,304,368.10. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold 875,020 shares of company stock worth $113,938,503 in the last three months. Insiders own 18.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Workday by 25,412.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 10,230,616 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,197,332,000 after buying an additional 10,190,516 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $5,371,495,000 after buying an additional 3,210,232 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Workday by 101.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,017,905 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,077,537,000 after buying an additional 2,525,821 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Workday during the fourth quarter valued at $448,804,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Workday by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,338,773 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $931,882,000 after buying an additional 2,028,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Workday

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Workday launched Workday AI Research, a dedicated technical team focused on making enterprise AI more reliable, trustworthy, and efficient. The initiative targets challenges involving agent memory, collaboration, orchestration, and data deletion, potentially strengthening Workday’s competitive position in AI-powered HR, finance, and IT software. Workday Introduces AI Research Team
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a PhD fellowship and plans to contribute peer-reviewed research and evaluation methods to the broader AI community. Investors may view the effort as evidence that Workday is investing seriously in long-term AI product development rather than relying solely on third-party technology. Workday Introduces AI Research Team Dedicated to Advancing Reliable, Trustworthy, and Efficient Enterprise AI
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of the AI announcement described a sharp upward move in WDAY shares, indicating that the new research division was the primary immediate catalyst. Workday Stock Surges as Company Launches AI Research Division
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target from $140 to $205 but retained a Neutral rating, suggesting some additional valuation upside while signaling limited conviction at the stock’s elevated level. Bank of America Raises Workday Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment commentary highlighted potential for more than 30% margin expansion, while also warning that high valuations, concentrated demand, and aggressive AI investment assumptions create risks. Workday Margin Potential Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported interest from Silver Lake has fueled speculation about software-sector consolidation, but the potential transaction remains unconfirmed and could increase volatility. Analyst Lists Reasons Tech M&A May Accelerate
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG lowered Workday to Neutral, while Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold. Analysts cited valuation concerns and caution after the recent rally. BTIG Lowers Workday Rating Deutsche Bank Downgrades Workday

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.