Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE)

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

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWRE opened at $189.50 on Thursday. Guidewire Software has a one year low of $86.49 and a one year high of $191.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $172.18 and a 200-day moving average of $145.11. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,457.69, a P/E/G ratio of 48.42 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $146.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.62.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.68, for a total value of $253,368.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 190,611 shares in the company, valued at $35,773,872.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.68, for a total value of $253,368.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 190,611 shares in the company, valued at $35,773,872.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider James Winston King sold 4,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.66, for a total transaction of $779,387.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 48,237 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,601 shares of company stock worth $9,050,448. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Guidewire Software by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,134,952 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $949,430,000 after acquiring an additional 67,439 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Guidewire Software by 23.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,747,349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $378,832,000 after acquiring an additional 516,942 shares in the last quarter. Linonia Partnership LP raised its position in Guidewire Software by 8.4% during the second quarter. Linonia Partnership LP now owns 2,395,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $330,329,000 after acquiring an additional 185,077 shares in the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC raised its position in Guidewire Software by 23.4% during the first quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,870 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $148,323,000 after acquiring an additional 240,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Guidewire Software by 5.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,244,416 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $145,236,000 after acquiring an additional 64,149 shares in the last quarter.

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.