Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Trading Up 6.8% – Time to Buy?

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) rose 6.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $149.62 and last traded at $150.4430. Approximately 517,550 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 1,591,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GWRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Guidewire Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.23.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 8.9%

The firm has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.06 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $162.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $411.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $402.61 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 12.66%. Guidewire Software’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guidewire Software news, CFO Jeffrey Cooper sold 2,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $308,011.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 63,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,536,071.58. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Michael Rosenbaum sold 5,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total value of $692,254.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 199,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,721,402.24. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 45,893 shares of company stock worth $7,067,162 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guidewire Software

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. American Trust lifted its position in Guidewire Software by 3.9% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,632 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.6% in the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Avory & Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Avory & Company LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Guidewire Software by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 247 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter.

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.