Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $142.58, but opened at $149.00. Guidewire Software shares last traded at $153.3020, with a volume of 130,995 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on GWRE shares. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Guggenheim increased their price target on Guidewire Software from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Guidewire Software from $137.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.23.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 7.3%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $164.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.58 and a beta of 0.97.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $411.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.61 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James King sold 1,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.98, for a total transaction of $200,217.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 44,558 shares in the company, valued at $6,460,018.84. This represents a 3.01% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jeffrey Cooper sold 9,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.61, for a total value of $1,417,686.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 85,420 shares in the company, valued at $12,181,746.20. This trade represents a 10.42% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,232 shares of company stock valued at $28,794,756. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,106,768,000. Linonia Partnership LP acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the second quarter valued at approximately $853,165,000. Route One Investment Company L.P. acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the second quarter valued at approximately $227,564,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth $202,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 547.3% during the first 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 during the last quarter.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc develops software for the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry. Its platform is designed to help insurers manage core operations, modernize legacy systems, and support digital interactions with policyholders, agents, brokers, and other stakeholders.

The company’s principal offerings include Guidewire InsuranceSuite, a cloud-based platform with applications such as PolicyCenter for policy administration, BillingCenter for billing and payments, and ClaimCenter for claims management.