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

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $231.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.50.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

NYSE GWRE opened at $186.54 on Friday. Guidewire Software has a 1 year low of $107.00 and a 1 year high of $219.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 518.17, a P/E/G ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.25.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.44). Guidewire Software had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.38%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, insider James Winston King sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total transaction of $47,190.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,981,153.92. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.13, for a total transaction of $467,199.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 172,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,028,955.98. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,656 shares of company stock valued at $7,856,836. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Guidewire Software by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,455,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,425,434,000 after buying an additional 90,618 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Guidewire Software by 29.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its position in Guidewire Software by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,678,857 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 205,382 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Guidewire Software by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,407,778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $237,323,000 after purchasing an additional 291,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Guidewire Software by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,342,771 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $226,701,000 after purchasing an additional 12,697 shares during the period.

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.