Workday Slides as Traders Reassess Buyout Speculation After Prior-Day Spike

Workday (WDAY) is down 3.2% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely driver is profit-taking after the stock’s sharp jump on takeover speculation in the prior session. This could be because investors are reassessing the odds of any transaction closing soon, especially with no definitive deal announcement or fresh company filing confirming terms.

Details:

Workday shares surged roughly 18% on August 13 after a report said Silver Lake was discussing a possible take-private transaction for the company.

By August 14, the stock was lower in early trading, suggesting some of the prior day’s enthusiasm faded as traders digested that discussions do not guarantee a signed acquisition.

Workday’s most recent quarterly update, released on May 21, showed revenue growth of 13.5% and subscription revenue growth of 14.3%, indicating the selloff does not appear tied to a sudden deterioration in the underlying business.

In that same quarterly release, Workday reiterated full-year fiscal 2027 subscription revenue guidance of $9.925 billion to $9.950 billion and guided for second-quarter subscription revenue of $2.455 billion, so today’s move looks more event-driven than fundamentals-driven.

Sources:

Axios, Workday, SEC

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$WDAY Insider Trading Activity

$WDAY insiders have traded $WDAY stock on the open market 136 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 136 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $WDAY stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

DAVID A DUFFIELD has made 0 purchases and 114 sales selling 2,042,500 shares for an estimated $271,195,315.
ZANE ROWE (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 12,000 shares for an estimated $1,631,517.
GERRIT S KAZMAIER (President, Prod. and Tech.) has made 0 purchases and 4 sales selling 12,084 shares for an estimated $1,593,002.
ROBERT ENSLIN (President, CCO) has made 0 purchases and 10 sales selling 10,747 shares for an estimated $1,420,310.
MARK S. GARFIELD (Chief Accounting Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 2,503 shares for an estimated $309,714.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

EARLY ACCESS

Receive WDAY Data Alerts

Real-time alerts on filings, insider trades, and market signals — before everyone else.

Get Alerts →

$WDAY Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 496 institutional investors add shares of $WDAY stock to their portfolio, and 664 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

HOTCHKIS & WILEY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC added 3,898,261 shares (+57.7%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $504,707,851
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC added 2,614,558 shares (+196.6%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $338,506,824
PARNASSUS INVESTMENTS, LLC removed 2,116,802 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $274,062,354
PZENA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC added 1,971,270 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $241,322,873
GENERATION INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLP removed 1,870,802 shares (-44.7%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $229,023,580
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 1,703,189 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $208,504,397
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 1,685,179 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $206,299,613

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$WDAY Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $WDAY stock 5 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 2 have been purchases and 3 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $WDAY stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR. has traded it 4 times. They made 1 purchase worth up to $15,000 on 03/13 and 3 sales worth up to $115,000 on 06/05, 05/29, 04/14.
SENATOR ALAN ARMSTRONG purchased up to $15,000 on 03/27.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$WDAY Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $WDAY in the last several months. We have seen 2 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 1 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 05/22/2026
BWG Global issued a "Negative" rating on 05/15/2026
BTIG issued a "Buy" rating on 02/25/2026

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $WDAY, check out Quiver Quantitative's $WDAY forecast page.

$WDAY Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $WDAY recently. We have seen 24 analysts offer price targets for $WDAY in the last 6 months, with a median target of $177.5.

Here are some recent targets:

Kash Rangan from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $151.0 on 05/26/2026
Jason Celino from Keybanc set a target price of $158.0 on 05/22/2026
Brent Thill from Jefferies set a target price of $140.0 on 05/22/2026
Karl Keirstead from UBS set a target price of $140.0 on 05/22/2026
Michael Turrin from Wells Fargo set a target price of $185.0 on 05/22/2026
Billy Fitzsimmons from Piper Sandler set a target price of $145.0 on 05/22/2026
Steven Enders from Citigroup set a target price of $139.0 on 05/22/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.