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

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 1,297 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,563% compared to the average daily volume of 78 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guidewire Software news, insider John P. Mullen sold 5,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.77, for a total value of $526,759.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 157,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,471,394.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 7,609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.77, for a total transaction of $698,277.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,484,210.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John P. Mullen sold 5,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.77, for a total value of $526,759.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 157,692 shares in the company, valued at $14,471,394.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,354 shares of company stock valued at $4,712,541. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 490.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 390 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Guidewire Software in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 533 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.28% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Shares of Guidewire Software stock opened at $97.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of -72.21 and a beta of 1.15. Guidewire Software has a 12 month low of $56.02 and a 12 month high of $98.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.66.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 7th. The technology company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $270.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.38 million. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 8.40% and a negative net margin of 12.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Guidewire Software will post -0.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Guidewire Software from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Guidewire Software in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.36.

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.