Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,169,290 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 71% from the previous session’s volume of 685,380 shares.The stock last traded at $188.03 and had previously closed at $188.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GWRE. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Guidewire Software from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $123.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.62.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 0.7 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.60. The stock has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,454.92 and a beta of 1.19.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $291.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.84 million. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 23,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total value of $4,024,928.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,523,889.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 23,379 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total transaction of $4,024,928.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 287,662 shares in the company, valued at $49,523,889.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James Winston King sold 4,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.66, for a total value of $779,387.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,328,600.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,251 shares of company stock worth $8,797,080. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guidewire Software

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,874,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $335,513,000 after purchasing an additional 115,600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 648.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Guidewire Software by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 111,489 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,012,000 after acquiring an additional 13,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 400,284 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,717,000 after acquiring an additional 30,161 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.