Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) Receives $249.85 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $249.8462.

GWRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research raised Guidewire Software from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guidewire Software news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 4,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.72, for a total value of $755,031.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,996 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,325.12. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 4,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total value of $776,204.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,206 shares in the company, valued at $36,246,815.16. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 31,279 shares of company stock worth $4,887,686 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GWRE. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter worth $202,405,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 405.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 538,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $126,743,000 after acquiring an additional 431,725 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $290,501,000 after acquiring an additional 405,850 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 4,507.8% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 318,675 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,057,000 after acquiring an additional 311,759 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 112.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,859 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,036,000 after acquiring an additional 254,142 shares during the period.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GWRE stock opened at $140.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.70, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 2.93. Guidewire Software has a fifty-two week low of $115.57 and a fifty-two week high of $272.60.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.40. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 14.11%.The firm had revenue of $359.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Guidewire Software announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, January 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Guidewire Software Company 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.