Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Shares Up 6.8% – Time to Buy?

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)’s share price traded up 6.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $149.62 and last traded at $150.4430. Approximately 517,550 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 1,591,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $222.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, September 4th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, September 4th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.23.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.38 billion, a PE ratio of 91.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.52.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.06. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.44%.The firm had revenue of $411.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $402.61 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 14,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $2,664,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 116,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,592,275. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Cooper sold 1,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.67, for a total transaction of $142,443.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,119 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,114.73. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 33,132 shares of company stock valued at $5,584,477 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 86.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $360,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,116,000.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc (NYSE: GWRE) provides cloud-based software and technology services for the property and casualty insurance industry. Its solutions help insurers manage core operations, modernize legacy systems, improve customer engagement and use data to support underwriting and claims decisions.

The company’s principal platform, InsuranceSuite, includes applications such as PolicyCenter for policy administration, BillingCenter for billing and payments, and ClaimCenter for claims management.