Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $206.08.

GWRE has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $228.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Guidewire Software from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of GWRE opened at $185.85 on Tuesday. Guidewire Software has a 1 year low of $107.00 and a 1 year high of $219.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.83. The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 516.26, a PEG ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $289.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.74 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.38%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 5,932 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $1,014,727.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 281,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,192,733.80. The trade was a 2.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 7,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $1,225,644.90. Following the transaction, the president now owns 182,096 shares in the company, valued at $31,149,341.76. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,056 shares of company stock valued at $8,094,892. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GWRE. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,827,000. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,455 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,172,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 40,121 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 8,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 160.9% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,909 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period.

About Guidewire Software

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.