Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Guidewire Software, acquiring 256,070 shares to own a total of 8,711,604 shares, valued at approximately $1.63 billion.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Guidewire Software, with JMP Securities setting a new objective of $281 and several firms providing ratings from "buy" to "market outperform."
• Insider transactions included CEO Michael George Rosenbaum selling 1,400 shares at an average price of $225.04, representing a small decrease in his ownership of the company.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,711,604 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 256,070 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.39% of Guidewire Software worth $1,632,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 16.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,157,195 shares of the technology company's stock worth $966,252,000 after purchasing an additional 720,322 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,678,857 shares of the technology company's stock worth $451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 205,382 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 938,941 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,113,000 after purchasing an additional 227,238 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 863,090 shares of the technology company's stock worth $145,500,000 after purchasing an additional 98,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SurgoCap Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. SurgoCap Partners LP now owns 810,942 shares of the technology company's stock worth $136,709,000 after purchasing an additional 123,656 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Guidewire Software from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $250.92.

Guidewire Software Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of GWRE stock traded down $4.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $209.03. 691,551 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 583,779. The stock has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 522.58, a P/E/G ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's fifty day moving average is $232.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.54. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.94 and a 52-week high of $263.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Guidewire Software

In related news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.44, for a total value of $297,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,323,301.92. This trade represents a 0.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider James Winston King sold 2,482 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total transaction of $547,653.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,261,356.65. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,742 shares of company stock valued at $5,870,207. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.