Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Has $7.33 Million Stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,487 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,777 shares during the period. Guidewire Software accounts for 1.3% of Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $7,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWRE. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 265.4% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,990 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,000 after buying an additional 5,077 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 537.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the third quarter valued at $1,502,000. Finally, GDS Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the third quarter valued at $477,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.13, for a total value of $467,199.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 172,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,028,955.98. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider James Winston King sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total transaction of $47,190.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,981,153.92. The trade was a 0.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,656 shares of company stock worth $7,856,836 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of Guidewire Software stock opened at $173.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 482.56, a PEG ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.00 and a 12-month high of $219.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.83.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $289.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.74 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 2.91%. On average, analysts forecast that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $228.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Guidewire Software 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.