Castleark Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Castleark Management LLC reduced its stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 97.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 930 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 35,910 shares during the quarter. Castleark Management LLC's holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ossiam purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 176.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 287 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GWRE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Guidewire Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $226.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $228.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $207.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 1,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $370,485.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 71,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,550,012.58. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 6,116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $1,158,431.56. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 166,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,504,565.30. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,371 shares of company stock valued at $6,210,967. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

NYSE GWRE traded up $1.75 on Friday, reaching $209.75. 988,750 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 932,080. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.65 and a 12 month high of $219.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.44. The stock has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a PE ratio of 582.63, a P/E/G ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.18.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.44). Guidewire Software had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.38%. The business had revenue of $289.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.74 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.