Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $249.8462.

A number of research firms have weighed in on GWRE. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $246.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James Winston King sold 1,001 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 $164,023.86. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,358,385.86. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 1,935 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 transaction of $317,069.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 66,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,824,755.46. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,479 shares of company stock valued at $5,007,134. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GWRE. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth $202,405,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 547.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,537,000 after buying an additional 997,992 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 405.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 538,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $126,743,000 after purchasing an additional 431,725 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $290,501,000 after purchasing an additional 405,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 179.0% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 628,759 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $94,037,000 after purchasing an additional 403,370 shares during the last quarter.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 1.5%

GWRE opened at $123.72 on Friday. Guidewire Software has a fifty-two week low of $115.57 and a fifty-two week high of $272.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $144.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.87.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.40. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 14.11% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The firm had revenue of $359.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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.