Insider Selling: Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) CAO Sells $275,215.35 in Stock

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) CAO David Peterson sold 1,905 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.47, for a total transaction of $275,215.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,767,301.51. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.

David Franklin Peterson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 27th, David Peterson sold 2,500 shares of Guidewire Software stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of GWRE traded up $5.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $149.39. 990,880 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,595,100. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.30 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.65 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.50.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $411.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.61 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.44%.Guidewire Software’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Guidewire Software from $202.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 997,992 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Guidewire Software by 3.0% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 524,818 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,492,000 after buying an additional 15,260 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Guidewire Software by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $357,504,000 after buying an additional 145,924 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter worth about $5,837,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,087,000.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc (NYSE: GWRE) provides cloud-based software and technology services for the property and casualty insurance industry. Its solutions help insurers manage core operations, modernize legacy systems, improve customer engagement and use data to support underwriting and claims decisions.

The company’s principal platform, InsuranceSuite, includes applications such as PolicyCenter for policy administration, BillingCenter for billing and payments, and ClaimCenter for claims management.