Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Price Target Lowered to $258.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut its price target on Guidewire Software from $300 to $258, while keeping an overweight rating. The new target still implies substantial upside from the prior close.
• Guidewire’s latest quarter showed better-than-expected results, with EPS of $0.82 versus estimates of $0.74 and revenue of $372.5 million, up 26.9% year over year.
• Despite the mixed analyst sentiment, the stock has continued to draw attention from investors, though recent news also showed insider selling by the CFO and president.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $300.00 to $258.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 83.87% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Guidewire Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $246.00 to $222.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. 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.com, Guidewire Software presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.42.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 3.1%

GWRE stock opened at $140.32 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $131.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.05. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.85 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.44. Guidewire Software has a fifty-two week low of $102.30 and a fifty-two week high of $272.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 1,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.67, for a total value of $142,443.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,119 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,114.73. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 4,292 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $509,632.08. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 131,115 shares in the company, valued at $15,568,595.10. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 31,393 shares of company stock worth $3,960,558 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the technology company's stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. American Trust increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.9% during the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,632 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $936,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 505 shares of the technology company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Castleark Management LLC lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 1.6% during the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the technology company's stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period.

About Guidewire Software

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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