Legato Capital Management LLC Buys 1,230 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 55.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,450 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 403.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 131 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Ossiam purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 70.0% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 170 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 197 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GWRE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Guidewire Software from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Guidewire Software from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $250.92.

Guidewire Software Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GWRE traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $223.53. 634,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 704,357. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.01 and a 52 week high of $263.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.59. The company has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 558.82, a PEG ratio of 19.84 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael C. Keller sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.53, for a total transaction of $237,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,472,687.30. This trade represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider James Winston King sold 2,482 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total value of $547,653.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 37,441 shares in the company, valued at $8,261,356.65. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,342 shares of company stock valued at $4,843,857. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.