Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) Trading Down 6.5% on Insider Selling

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAYGet Free Report) fell 6.5% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $118.95 and last traded at $119.1990. 4,957,025 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 5,011,710 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.51.

Specifically, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 107,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.60, for a total transaction of $13,932,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 105,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,614,350.40. This represents a 50.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Zane Rowe sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.22, for a total transaction of $769,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 217,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,942,984.60. The trade was a 2.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In other Workday news, insider Robert Enslin sold 5,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.41, for a total transaction of $695,319.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 165,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,406,225.74. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Workday from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Workday from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Workday from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $325.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Workday from $260.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Workday from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Workday has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.71.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Workday

Key Workday News

Here are the key news stories impacting Workday this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Workday was named a Leader in Gartner’s 2026 Magic Quadrant for Higher Education Student Information Systems — a vendor endorsement that supports continued adoption in an industry with recurring revenue potential. Read More.
  • Positive Sentiment: Channel consolidation: UST acquired Intecrowd, a Workday implementation partner — this can expand implementation capacity and indirectly support Workday’s platform deployments. Read More.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership remains high and some large funds reported increased positions, reflecting continued long‑term investor interest despite near‑term weakness. Read More.
  • Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder David Duffield sold 107,500 shares (~$13.9M) under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan, cutting his stake by ~50% — the size of the sale is notable and likely weighs on sentiment. Read More.
  • Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders (CFO Zane Rowe, Robert Enslin, Gerrit Kazmaier) sold shares via 10b5‑1 plans or to cover tax withholding on vested awards — adds to short‑term supply even if mostly pre‑planned. Read More. Read More. Read More.
  • Negative Sentiment: Analyst action: several firms trimmed price targets (Deutsche Bank, TD Cowen, Oppenheimer, BMO), which can reinforce selling pressure in the near term despite an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus. Read More.
  • Negative Sentiment: Negative media commentary highlighted Workday as a relative laggard in the Nasdaq 100, which can amplify short‑term outflows even without new fundamental deterioration. Read More.

Workday Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $30.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.11, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $142.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.04.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAYGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The software maker reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Workday, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Workday

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Workday in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Workday during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Workday during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Workday in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Workday in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Workday Company Profile

(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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