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

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $215.76, but opened at $226.14. Guidewire Software shares last traded at $212.9260, with a volume of 666,408 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Guidewire Software from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Guidewire Software presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.00.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 2.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 263.91, a PEG ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $229.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.08.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The technology company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 5.81%.The business had revenue of $332.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 15,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.87, for a total transaction of $3,854,104.03. Following the sale, the president directly owned 158,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,606,129.46. This trade represents a 9.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 1,811 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.87, for a total transaction of $439,837.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,440,010.68. The trade was a 11.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 112,342 shares of company stock worth $27,113,960 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GWRE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Guidewire Software by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,077,791,000 after acquiring an additional 116,726 shares during the last quarter. Linonia Partnership LP lifted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 41.8% in the first quarter. Linonia Partnership LP now owns 3,396,310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $636,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,709 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 1.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,672,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $313,410,000 after purchasing an additional 24,991 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Guidewire Software by 5.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,578,442 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $372,105,000 after purchasing an additional 84,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Guidewire Software by 70.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,427,104 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $267,382,000 after purchasing an additional 589,424 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.