Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Hits New 52-Week Low After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Guidewire Software shares fell to a new 52-week low of $113.12 after insider selling, and the stock was down about 4.1% on the day.
• Multiple insiders sold shares on June 16, including President John P. Mullen, who sold 4,292 shares, and the sales were largely tied to tax withholding obligations from vested equity awards.
• Despite the recent slide, analysts remain generally constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, with 11 Buy ratings and an average price target of $229, well above the current price.

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $113.12 and last traded at $112.6880, with a volume of 930835 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $117.46.

Specifically, President John P. Mullen sold 4,292 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total value of $509,632.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 131,115 shares in the company, valued at $15,568,595.10. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider James Winston King sold 999 shares of the company'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 $118,621.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,764,295.48. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In other Guidewire Software news, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 246 shares of the company'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 $29,210.04. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $220.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $229.00.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 4.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.01 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 2.44. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $136.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.98.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guidewire Software

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Guidewire Software by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,077,791,000 after acquiring an additional 116,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $357,504,000 after purchasing an additional 145,924 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company's stock worth $290,501,000 after acquiring an additional 405,850 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,817 shares of the technology company's stock worth $264,693,000 after acquiring an additional 45,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 547.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,334 shares of the technology company's stock worth $176,537,000 after purchasing an additional 997,992 shares during the last quarter.

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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