Brokerages Set Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) Price Target at $272.92

Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $271.2857.

GWRE has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Guidewire Software from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research lowered Guidewire Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Guidewire Software from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Guidewire Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GWRE opened at $193.85 on Thursday. Guidewire Software has a 12 month low of $165.08 and a 12 month high of $272.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $223.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 184.62, a P/E/G ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 1.08.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The technology company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The company had revenue of $332.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 7,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.08, for a total value of $1,531,838.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 141,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,272,094.64. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.08, for a total value of $68,764.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,459,776.48. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,719 shares of company stock worth $10,538,481. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 14.7% during the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 2,729 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Guidewire Software by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,594 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,412,000 after buying an additional 8,008 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 70.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,427,104 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $267,382,000 after acquiring an additional 589,424 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Guidewire Software in the first quarter valued at about $391,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 5.2% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,726,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in 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.