William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $74.99 Million in Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 609,420 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,989,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 78,659 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,811,000 after buying an additional 26,912 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Guidewire Software by 3.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 997,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $357,504,000 after acquiring an additional 145,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 128,447 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,819,000 after acquiring an additional 7,459 shares during the last quarter.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Guidewire Software stock opened at $189.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.26 and a beta of 0.92. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.30 and a 12-month high of $272.60.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 11.25%.The firm had revenue of $372.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GWRE. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guidewire Software

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 14,400 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $2,664,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 116,715 shares in the company, valued at $21,592,275. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider James Winston King sold 1,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.64, for a total transaction of $219,997.76. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,921,551.52. This trade represents a 5.31% 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 44,593 shares of company stock worth $6,572,106 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.