First Trust Advisors LP Sells 14,434 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,753 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 14,434 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.19% of Guidewire Software worth $26,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 101.0% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 197 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.42, for a total value of $291,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 276,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,551,014.60. This trade represents a 0.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.79, for a total transaction of $626,370.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 174,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,485,217.34. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,771 shares of company stock worth $7,134,011 over the last three months. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Guidewire Software from $228.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.08.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of GWRE stock traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $206.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 89,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,031. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.65 and a 1-year high of $219.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 574.33, a PEG ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's 50-day moving average is $190.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.56.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $289.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.74 million. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.38%. On average, research analysts predict that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current 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.