Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 127,824 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Key Points

• Janus Henderson Group reduced its Guidewire Software stake by 26% in the first quarter, selling 127,824 shares and retaining 363,562 shares valued at approximately $54.4 million.
• Guidewire reported a quarterly earnings and revenue beat, with EPS of $0.82 versus the $0.74 consensus and revenue of $372.5 million, up 26.9% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $221, despite several firms recently lowering their targets.

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 363,562 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 127,824 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.43% of Guidewire Software worth $54,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Amundi raised its position in Guidewire Software by 703.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 36,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,220,000 after purchasing an additional 31,598 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the 2nd quarter worth $305,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 30.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,024 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 30.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of GWRE stock opened at $152.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.30 and a 52-week high of $272.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.66. The stock has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a PE ratio of 82.20 and a beta of 0.95.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $372.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.92 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James Winston King sold 1,684 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.64, for a total value of $219,997.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,018 shares in the company, valued at $3,921,551.52. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.31, for a total value of $170,772.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 192,576 shares in the company, valued at $27,405,490.56. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 30,193 shares of company stock valued at $3,797,922 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $255.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Guidewire Software from $246.00 to $222.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.00.

About Guidewire Software

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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