Oppenheimer Cuts Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) Price Target to $250.00

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $300.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 94.22% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on GWRE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $242.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Guidewire Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Guidewire Software from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $246.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

NYSE GWRE opened at $128.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.05, a P/E/G ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $164.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.71. Guidewire Software has a 12-month low of $120.37 and a 12-month high of $272.60.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The technology company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 7.23%.The company had revenue of $332.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Guidewire Software’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Guidewire Software announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 8th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 2,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.08, for a total transaction of $551,653.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,252,528.08. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider James Winston King sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $362,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 33,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,571,890. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,160 shares of company stock worth $8,917,644. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,077,791,000 after acquiring an additional 116,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,201 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $357,504,000 after buying an additional 145,924 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its position in Guidewire Software by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $290,501,000 after buying an additional 405,850 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,817 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $264,693,000 after purchasing an additional 45,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Guidewire Software during the fourth quarter worth $202,405,000.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc develops software products and cloud services for property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company’s offerings are designed to help insurers manage the core functions of their business—policy administration, billing and claims—while supporting digital engagement, analytics and operational modernization.

Guidewire’s core product portfolio is commonly known as the InsuranceSuite, which includes PolicyCenter for policy administration, BillingCenter for billing and receivables, and ClaimCenter for claims management.