Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from fourteen brokerages, with ten analysts issuing buy recommendations and one rating the stock as a sell.
• The stock's average 12-month price target is approximately $250.92, with several analysts recently raising their price targets, including JMP Securities, which increased it to $281.00.
• Despite a recent decline of 3.5% in stock prices, Guidewire reported Q1 earnings of $0.88 per share, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.47 amidst a 22% year-over-year revenue increase.

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $250.9231.

GWRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Guidewire Software from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $199.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Guidewire Software from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

Guidewire Software Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:GWRE opened at $217.66 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.07. Guidewire Software has a 12-month low of $141.03 and a 12-month high of $263.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 544.14, a PEG ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James Winston King sold 2,482 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 37,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,261,356.65. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.50, for a total transaction of $359,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,993 shares in the company, valued at $63,097,204.50. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,572,791. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Guidewire Software by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,087 shares of the technology company's stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $607,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 209,585 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,332,000 after purchasing an additional 21,804 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 22,506 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,836,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period.

About Guidewire Software

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.