Guidewire Software Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GWRE)

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 1,297 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,563% compared to the average daily volume of 78 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Guidewire Software Stock Down 0.7 %

GWRE opened at $192.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.54 and a 200-day moving average of $189.69. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 533.97, a P/E/G ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.19. Guidewire Software has a fifty-two week low of $107.00 and a fifty-two week 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.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued 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). Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 2.91%. The business had revenue of $289.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.74 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $147,000.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 177,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,326,660. The trade was a 0.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider James Winston King sold 1,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $199,069.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,450,148.33. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,471 shares of company stock valued at $7,272,821 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,436,873 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $747,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,966 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software during the first quarter worth about $85,453,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Guidewire Software by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 946,158 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $159,503,000 after buying an additional 418,642 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 242.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 555,892 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,683,000 after buying an additional 393,445 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,118,000.

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.