Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 182,342 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,130 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $36,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,077,791,000 after buying an additional 116,726 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 18.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $292,146,000 after buying an additional 202,064 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 34.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 982,747 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,894,000 after buying an additional 251,280 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 9.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 856,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $196,872,000 after buying an additional 75,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 784,524 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $180,331,000 after buying an additional 48,956 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GWRE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.85.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of GWRE stock opened at $138.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 62.94 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.57 and a twelve month high of $272.60.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $359.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.88 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 14.11% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 4,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total value of $776,204.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,246,815.16. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 4,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.72, for a total transaction of $755,031.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 67,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,792,325.12. This trade represents a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,279 shares of company stock worth $4,843,478. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Guidewire Software Company Profile

Guidewire Software, Inc develops software products and cloud services for property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company’s offerings are designed to help insurers manage the core functions of their business—policy administration, billing and claims—while supporting digital engagement, analytics and operational modernization.

Guidewire’s core product portfolio is commonly known as the InsuranceSuite, which includes PolicyCenter for policy administration, BillingCenter for billing and receivables, and ClaimCenter for claims management.