Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Stock

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.06% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on GWRE. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Guidewire Software from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on Guidewire Software from $123.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.69.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of Guidewire Software stock traded up $1.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.34. 101,781 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 697,652. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $183.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.09. The company has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,441.44, a PEG ratio of 49.72 and a beta of 1.18. Guidewire Software has a 1-year low of $95.02 and a 1-year high of $199.33.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a negative net margin of 0.62% and a negative return on equity of 1.29%. The firm had revenue of $291.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James Winston King sold 4,514 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.66, for a total transaction of $779,387.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,237 shares in the company, valued at $8,328,600.42. This trade represents a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.68, for a total transaction of $253,368.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 190,611 shares in the company, valued at $35,773,872.48. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,251 shares of company stock valued at $8,849,257. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,134,952 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $949,430,000 after acquiring an additional 67,439 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,426,907 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $626,918,000 after purchasing an additional 679,558 shares during the last quarter. Linonia Partnership LP raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.4% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,330,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $243,580,000 after buying an additional 6,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC raised its position in Guidewire Software by 23.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 240,622 shares during the period.

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.