Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Price Target to $175.00

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $140.00 to $175.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 9.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on GWRE. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Guidewire Software from $146.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Guidewire Software from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Guidewire Software from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Guidewire Software from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.38.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWRE traded up $15.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $159.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,765,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,022. Guidewire Software has a twelve month low of $83.91 and a twelve month high of $171.74. The stock has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,229.85 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.75.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $291.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.84 million. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 1.19% and a negative net margin of 1.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guidewire Software news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 3,017 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.54, for a total transaction of $405,907.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,540,464.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Guidewire Software news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.03, for a total transaction of $201,190.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 137,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,539,463.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 3,017 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.54, for a total value of $405,907.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 63,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,540,464.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,064 shares of company stock valued at $1,782,775 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth about $105,311,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth about $97,829,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 23.4% during the first quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,870 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $148,323,000 after purchasing an additional 240,622 shares in the last quarter. Teca Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the second quarter worth about $25,893,000. Finally, Linonia Partnership LP increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.4% during the second quarter. Linonia Partnership LP now owns 2,395,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $330,329,000 after purchasing an additional 185,077 shares in the last quarter.

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.