Guidewire Software Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GWRE)

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 1,297 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,563% compared to the average volume of 78 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.68, for a total value of $253,368.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 190,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,773,872.48. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 23,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total value of $4,024,928.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 287,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,523,889.92. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,601 shares of company stock valued at $9,116,179. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 24.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,426,907 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $626,918,000 after purchasing an additional 679,558 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 18,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,128 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $472,220,000 after acquiring an additional 256,702 shares during the period. Teca Partners LP bought a new position in Guidewire Software in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,893,000. Linonia Partnership LP increased its stake in Guidewire Software by 8.4% in the second quarter. Linonia Partnership LP now owns 2,395,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $330,329,000 after purchasing an additional 185,077 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the second quarter valued at $22,318,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GWRE shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.08.

Guidewire Software Stock Performance

Guidewire Software stock opened at $201.88 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $188.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.97. Guidewire Software has a twelve month low of $95.02 and a twelve month high of $207.10.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $291.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.84 million. Guidewire Software had a negative return on equity of 1.29% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Guidewire Software will post 0.53 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.