Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Guidewire Software by 49.5%, owning 88,719 shares valued at approximately $16.6 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have given Guidewire Software a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with price targets ranging from $160 to $290 as several firms have recently upgraded their expectations for the stock.
• Insider trading activity included sales by President John P. Mullen and CEO Michael George Rosenbaum, decreasing their respective holdings, while the stock opened at $222.88 after a 1.5% decline.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 49.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,719 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,368 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Guidewire Software worth $16,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the 1st quarter worth approximately $422,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Guidewire Software by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,252 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the 1st quarter valued at $1,600,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 434,731 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $81,451,000 after acquiring an additional 39,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the 1st quarter valued at $205,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Guidewire Software from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Guidewire Software from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Guidewire Software from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $250.92.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In related news, insider James Winston King sold 2,482 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total transaction of $547,653.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,441 shares in the company, valued at $8,261,356.65. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael C. Keller sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.53, for a total value of $237,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,472,687.30. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,572,791. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWRE traded down $2.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $223.36. 405,767 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 612,495. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.45 and a 12-month high of $263.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 558.41, a PEG ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.16. The business's fifty day moving average price is $231.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.61.

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

Guidewire Software Company Profile

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.