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

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 1,297 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,563% compared to the average daily volume of 78 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, insider James Winston King sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total transaction of $47,190.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,664 shares in the company, valued at $7,981,153.92. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.43, for a total value of $230,080.50. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 180,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,804,540.78. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,174 shares of company stock worth $6,746,147 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWRE. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 537.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Guidewire Software during the third quarter worth $219,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Guidewire Software in the third quarter valued at $415,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,087 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,451 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GWRE shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $231.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $228.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Guidewire Software currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of Guidewire Software stock opened at $196.55 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $196.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 545.96, a PEG 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. Guidewire Software has a 52 week low of $107.00 and a 52 week high of $219.59.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $289.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.74 million. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 2.91%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

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.