Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Guidewire by 4.0%, selling 7,161 shares and leaving it with 171,938 shares valued at roughly $39.5 million.
• Guidewire beat estimates with $1.17 EPS (vs. $0.77) and $359.1M revenue (up 24% YoY), and its board approved a $500 million share buyback (about 3.1% of outstanding stock).
• Analysts rate the stock a Moderate Buy on average with a $249.85 price target, well above the recent share price of about $157.59, indicating notable upside potential.

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,938 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,161 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.20% of Guidewire Software worth $39,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 5.4% in the third quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Guidewire Software by 9.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 624 shares of the technology company's stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in Guidewire Software by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 911 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Guidewire Software by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,739 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 963 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GWRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $246.00 price target on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut Guidewire Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.85.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 0.4%

GWRE opened at $157.59 on Friday. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.37 and a 52 week high of $272.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.41. The firm has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.63, a P/E/G ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 1.06.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 14.11%.The firm had revenue of $359.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Guidewire Software declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 8th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 216 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.87, for a total transaction of $39,067.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 72,753 shares in the company, valued at $13,158,835.11. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.34, for a total transaction of $199,608.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,143 shares in the company, valued at $37,782,966.62. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 42,560 shares of company stock worth $7,882,898 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.

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