Brokerages Set Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) PT at $249.85

Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $249.8462.

Several analysts have recently commented on GWRE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Guidewire Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $246.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In related news, President John P. Mullen sold 6,576 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total transaction of $1,077,543.36. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 135,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,187,791.02. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 4,757 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.72, for a total value of $755,031.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,996 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,325.12. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,495 shares of company stock worth $4,920,164 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the first quarter worth $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 620.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GWRE opened at $156.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of 71.22, a PEG ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.05. Guidewire Software has a 1 year low of $120.37 and a 1 year high of $272.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.33.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $359.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.88 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 14.11%.The business’s revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guidewire Software announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 8th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc develops software products and cloud services for property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company’s offerings are designed to help insurers manage the core functions of their business—policy administration, billing and claims—while supporting digital engagement, analytics and operational modernization.

Guidewire’s core product portfolio is commonly known as the InsuranceSuite, which includes PolicyCenter for policy administration, BillingCenter for billing and receivables, and ClaimCenter for claims management.