Legal & General Group Plc Has $27.59 Million Stock Position in Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Guidewire Software by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 137,247 shares valued at about $27.6 million.
• Wall Street remains largely positive on GWRE, with 11 Buy ratings versus four Holds and one Sell, and a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $244.46.
• Guidewire recently reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, posting $1.17 EPS and $359.1 million in revenue, while insiders also sold shares during the quarter, including the CFO and president.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,247 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 26,274 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.16% of Guidewire Software worth $27,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 901.1% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 9,110 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Guidewire Software by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 78,659 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,811,000 after acquiring an additional 26,912 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,803,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 520,390 shares of the technology company's stock worth $119,617,000 after purchasing an additional 17,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Guidewire Software during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,862,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research upped their price target on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.46.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 4,757 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.72, for a total transaction of $755,031.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 67,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,792,325.12. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 6,576 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total value of $1,077,543.36. Following the transaction, the president owned 135,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,187,791.02. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,479 shares of company stock worth $5,024,174. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of Guidewire Software stock opened at $152.40 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $139.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.57 and a 12 month high of $272.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.27 and a beta of 0.93.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $359.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.88 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 14.11%.The business's revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.