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

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,297 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,563% compared to the typical daily volume of 78 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GWRE. Bank of America upped their price target on Guidewire Software from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $226.00 price target on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.92.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE GWRE opened at $224.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $230.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.59. Guidewire Software has a 52-week low of $132.01 and a 52-week high of $263.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 560.16, a PEG ratio of 19.84 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.41. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 6.96%. The firm had revenue of $293.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Guidewire Software

In related news, President John P. Mullen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.05, for a total transaction of $705,150.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 146,489 shares in the company, valued at $34,432,239.45. The trade was a 2.01% 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, insider James Winston King sold 2,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total transaction of $547,653.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 37,441 shares in the company, valued at $8,261,356.65. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,342 shares of company stock worth $4,843,857 over the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 403.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Ossiam purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the first quarter valued at $31,000.

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.