Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE)

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,297 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,563% compared to the average volume of 78 call options.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In related news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.12, for a total value of $187,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,361,469.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 23,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total value of $4,024,928.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 287,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,523,889.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.12, for a total value of $187,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,361,469.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,601 shares of company stock valued at $8,984,892 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 126.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,979 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 36,176 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $468,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

GWRE opened at $182.34 on Friday. Guidewire Software has a fifty-two week low of $85.15 and a fifty-two week high of $183.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.85 and a 200-day moving average of $135.32. The company has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of -1,398.38 and a beta of 1.18.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The business had revenue of $291.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.84 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Guidewire Software will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GWRE. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $123.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 6th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guidewire Software currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.77.

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.