Traders Buy Large Volume of Guidewire Software Call Options (NYSE:GWRE)

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 1,297 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,563% compared to the average volume of 78 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $141.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.77.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 1.1 %

GWRE stock opened at $182.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,398.38 and a beta of 1.18. Guidewire Software has a twelve month low of $85.15 and a twelve month high of $183.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $156.85 and a 200-day moving average of $135.32.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The business had revenue of $291.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total transaction of $201,190.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 137,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,539,463.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total transaction of $201,190.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 137,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,539,463.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider James Winston King sold 4,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.66, for a total value of $779,387.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,328,600.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,601 shares of company stock valued at $8,984,892. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Guidewire Software by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,979 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Guidewire Software by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 36,176 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter valued at about $468,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter valued at about $173,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000.

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.