Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 547.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,180,334 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 997,992 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $176,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Amundi lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 703.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 36,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,220,000 after acquiring an additional 31,598 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the 2nd quarter worth about $305,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Guidewire Software by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 4,292 shares of the company’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 $509,632.08. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 131,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,568,595.10. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $166,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 194,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,998,326.72. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 31,393 shares of company stock valued at $3,960,558 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of Guidewire Software stock opened at $141.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 76.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.59. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a one year low of $102.30 and a one year high of $272.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $372.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Guidewire Software from $255.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Guidewire Software has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.42.

Guidewire Software 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.