Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE Shares Sold by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC cut its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 37.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,544 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,830 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 3,636.9% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 731,467 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $172,224,000 after acquiring an additional 711,893 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Guidewire Software by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 538,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $126,743,000 after acquiring an additional 431,725 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 112.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,859 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,036,000 after acquiring an additional 254,142 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,528 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $292,146,000 after purchasing an additional 202,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,298,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 4,757 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.72, for a total value of $755,031.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,996 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,325.12. This trade represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 6,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total transaction of $1,077,543.36. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 135,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,187,791.02. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,495 shares of company stock valued at $5,001,274. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GWRE shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Guidewire Software from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $246.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.85.

Guidewire Software Stock Down 6.2%

NYSE:GWRE opened at $137.07 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $144.05 and a 200-day moving average of $187.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a PE ratio of 62.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 1.05. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.37 and a 52 week high of $272.60.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $359.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.88 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 14.11%.The business’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Analysts predict that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Guidewire Software declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 8th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.