Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GWRE. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Guidewire Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $255.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.00.

Guidewire Software Stock Down 2.0%

Guidewire Software stock opened at $131.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Guidewire Software has a 1-year low of $102.30 and a 1-year high of $272.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.71. The company has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.99 and a beta of 0.95.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $372.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.92 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 12.62%. Guidewire Software’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 4,292 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total value of $509,632.08. Following the sale, the president owned 131,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,568,595.10. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 246 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $29,210.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,287 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,958.38. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 30,193 shares of company stock valued at $3,792,858 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Guidewire Software by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $357,504,000 after acquiring an additional 145,924 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $290,501,000 after acquiring an additional 405,850 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,817 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,693,000 after acquiring an additional 45,289 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 547.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,537,000 after purchasing an additional 997,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,405,000.

About Guidewire Software

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.