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

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 1,297 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,563% compared to the typical volume of 78 call options.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 12.4 %

GWRE stock opened at $206.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.23 billion, a PE ratio of 573.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 47.19 and a beta of 1.23. Guidewire Software has a one year low of $107.00 and a one year high of $212.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $182.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.43, for a total transaction of $230,080.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 180,746 shares in the company, valued at $30,804,540.78. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider James Winston King sold 1,509 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $258,129.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,291.68. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,606 shares of company stock worth $5,141,309 over the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 54.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,131,000 after buying an additional 7,948 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 22.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the second quarter worth $55,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 79.8% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,908 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $953,000 after buying an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 65.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 291,907 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,251,000 after buying an additional 115,757 shares during the period.

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.