Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE)

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $142.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Guidewire Software from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $130.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $161.69.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 3.9 %

NYSE:GWRE opened at $168.04 on Friday. Guidewire Software has a 12 month low of $85.15 and a 12 month high of $171.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $145.23 and its 200 day moving average is $128.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of -1,292.52 and a beta of 1.18.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 1.32% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The business had revenue of $291.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.84 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guidewire Software news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.12, for a total transaction of $187,812.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 139,171 shares in the company, valued at $19,361,469.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Guidewire Software news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.12, for a total transaction of $187,812.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 139,171 shares in the company, valued at $19,361,469.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 1,765 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.20, for a total value of $236,863.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 61,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,282,018.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,064 shares of company stock worth $1,782,775. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 33,678 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,355 shares in the last quarter. Teca Partners LP boosted its position in Guidewire Software by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Teca Partners LP now owns 195,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,328,000 after buying an additional 46,453 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 4.2% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,874,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $335,513,000 after buying an additional 115,600 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the 1st quarter valued at about $417,000.

About Guidewire Software

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.