Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GWRE. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Guidewire Software from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GWRE opened at $215.81 on Tuesday. Guidewire Software has a 12 month low of $165.08 and a 12 month high of $272.60. The firm has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 269.76, a P/E/G ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $229.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.08.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The technology company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The company had revenue of $332.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.62 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 5.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Guidewire Software news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 14,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.87, for a total value of $3,425,195.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,646 shares in the company, valued at $20,557,974.02. This trade represents a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 30,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.87, for a total value of $7,363,089.79. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 264,958 shares in the company, valued at $64,350,349.46. This trade represents a 10.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,342 shares of company stock valued at $27,113,960. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,077,791,000 after acquiring an additional 116,726 shares during the period. Linonia Partnership LP grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 41.8% during the first quarter. Linonia Partnership LP now owns 3,396,310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $636,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,709 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Guidewire Software by 1.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,672,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $313,410,000 after buying an additional 24,991 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Guidewire Software by 5.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,578,442 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $372,105,000 after buying an additional 84,152 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 70.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,427,104 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $267,382,000 after buying an additional 589,424 shares during the last quarter.

Guidewire Software Company Profile

Guidewire Software, Inc provides a platform for property and casualty (P&C) insurers worldwide. The company offers Guidewire InsuranceSuite Cloud, such as PolicyCenter Cloud, BillingCenter Cloud, and ClaimCenter Cloud applications. It also provides Guidewire InsuranceNow, a cloud-based platform that offers policy, billing, and claims management functionality to insurers; and Guidewire InsuranceSuite for Self-Managed.