Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 997,992 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group boosted its stake in Guidewire Software by 547.3% in the first quarter, buying nearly 998,000 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1.18 million shares valued at about $176.5 million.
• Guidewire reported a strong fiscal quarter, with EPS of $0.82 and revenue of $372.5 million, both ahead of analyst expectations; revenue also rose 26.9% year over year.
• Despite some recent target price cuts, Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with 11 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings and a consensus target price of $224.42.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 547.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,180,334 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 997,992 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.39% of Guidewire Software worth $176,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Guidewire Software during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 127.8% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 246 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE GWRE opened at $141.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.44. The business's 50 day moving average price is $131.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.59. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.30 and a fifty-two week high of $272.60. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.39 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWRE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Guidewire Software from $255.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $220.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $246.00 to $222.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guidewire Software

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 4,292 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $509,632.08. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 131,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,568,595.10. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 246 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $29,210.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,958.38. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,393 shares of company stock valued at $3,960,558. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Guidewire Software Company Profile

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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