Wasatch Advisors LP Acquires 65,628 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 867,117 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,628 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 1.04% of Guidewire Software worth $106,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $357,504,000 after purchasing an additional 145,924 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $290,501,000 after buying an additional 405,850 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,817 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,693,000 after buying an additional 45,289 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at $202,405,000.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In related news, insider James Winston King sold 1,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.64, for a total transaction of $219,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,921,551.52. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 2,594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $308,011.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 63,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,536,071.58. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 30,193 shares of company stock valued at $3,854,478 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GWRE shares. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $220.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $255.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Guidewire Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.21.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of GWRE opened at $176.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.01 and a 200 day moving average of $140.44. The company has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.39 and a beta of 0.92. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.30 and a 12 month high of $272.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 11.25%.The firm had revenue of $372.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.