Wall Street Zen Upgrades Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) to Buy

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on GWRE. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $231.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.00.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GWRE traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $255.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,577,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 943,476. The stock has a market cap of $21.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 709.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.53. Guidewire Software has a fifty-two week low of $129.02 and a fifty-two week high of $263.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.41. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.38%. The company had revenue of $293.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Guidewire Software's revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.25, for a total transaction of $301,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 250,193 shares in the company, valued at $53,854,043.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 6,116 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $1,158,431.56. Following the transaction, the president now owns 166,330 shares in the company, valued at $31,504,565.30. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,671 shares of company stock worth $5,471,104 in the last ninety days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GWRE. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 254.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 642 shares of the technology company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,389 shares of the technology company's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Tobam acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth $6,655,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,004 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period.

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.

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