M&G PLC Makes New Investment in Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

M&G PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 48,922 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,252,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 620.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GWRE. DA Davidson upgraded Guidewire Software from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $246.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $281.00 price target on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Guidewire Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.64.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWRE opened at $126.97 on Tuesday. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.88 and a twelve month high of $272.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.93, a PEG ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.06.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The technology company reported $0.66 EPS 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 business had revenue of $332.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guidewire Software declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 8th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 2,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.08, for a total transaction of $551,653.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,252,528.08. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 7,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.08, for a total value of $1,531,838.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 141,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,272,094.64. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 44,760 shares of company stock worth $8,614,644 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software Profile

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.