Guidewire Software Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GWRE)

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,297 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,563% compared to the average daily volume of 78 call options.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, insider John P. Mullen sold 6,718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total transaction of $1,156,570.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 160,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,643.84. This trade represents a 4.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 23,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total value of $4,024,928.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,523,889.92. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,601 shares of company stock worth $9,116,179. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Guidewire Software by 537.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the third quarter worth $33,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the second quarter worth about $41,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on GWRE shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $123.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.08.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWRE opened at $201.88 on Thursday. Guidewire Software has a 1-year low of $95.02 and a 1-year high of $207.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,523.18, a PEG ratio of 52.54 and a beta of 1.18.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $291.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.