Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys 291,774 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407,778 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 291,774 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 1.69% of Guidewire Software worth $237,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 197 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 14,143 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 5,770 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,455,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,425,434,000 after purchasing an additional 90,618 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 50,704 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,548,000 after purchasing an additional 13,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter worth $3,456,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guidewire Software news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total transaction of $244,692.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 280,330 shares in the company, valued at $48,996,077.40. This trade represents a 0.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total value of $401,994.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 178,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,188,791.88. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,180 shares of company stock worth $7,159,763 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

NYSE GWRE opened at $193.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 537.72, a P/E/G ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $198.95 and a 200-day moving average of $188.37. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.00 and a 52-week high of $219.59.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.44). The company 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GWRE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Guidewire Software from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, March 7th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

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.