3,694 Shares in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC acquired 3,694 shares of Guidewire Software, valued at approximately $692,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Guidewire Software, with Goldman Sachs increasing its target from $235.00 to $270.00 and others following suit, reflecting positive sentiment in the stock's potential.
• Guidewire Software reported $0.88 EPS for the last quarter, which exceeded analyst expectations and marked a 22% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Empower Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,694 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Guidewire Software during the first quarter worth $253,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 1.7% during the first quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 12,180 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,282,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 6.1% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,685 shares of the technology company's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 11.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,799 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 49.5% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 88,719 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,622,000 after purchasing an additional 29,368 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GWRE. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Guidewire Software presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $250.92.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Guidewire Software stock opened at $225.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 563.18, a PEG ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $232.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.80. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.61 and a 52 week high of $263.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $293.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.40 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 6.96% and a net margin of 3.04%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, insider James Winston King sold 2,482 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total transaction of $547,653.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 37,441 shares in the company, valued at $8,261,356.65. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.28, for a total value of $669,840.00. Following the sale, the president owned 143,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,038,223.92. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,572,791. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

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.

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