Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Trading 9.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)’s stock price traded up 9.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $136.71 and last traded at $137.1490. 632,056 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 1,682,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Guidewire Software from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Guidewire Software currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.85.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 9.9%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 62.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Guidewire Software declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 8th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 4,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total transaction of $776,204.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,246,815.16. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 4,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.72, for a total transaction of $755,031.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,325.12. This trade represents a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,279 shares of company stock valued at $4,887,686. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,077,791,000 after acquiring an additional 116,726 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $357,504,000 after acquiring an additional 145,924 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $290,501,000 after acquiring an additional 405,850 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,817 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $264,693,000 after acquiring an additional 45,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,405,000.

Guidewire Software Company Profile

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.