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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GWRE shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Guidewire Software from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Guidewire Software from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guidewire Software news, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.12, for a total transaction of $187,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,361,469.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Guidewire Software news, CFO Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 1,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.20, for a total value of $236,863.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,282,018.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John P. Mullen sold 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.12, for a total value of $187,812.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 139,171 shares in the company, valued at $19,361,469.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,064 shares of company stock valued at $1,782,775 over the last ninety days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guidewire Software

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 9,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Guidewire Software by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 17,151 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 4,390 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in Guidewire Software in the 4th quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Guidewire Software by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 513,104 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,949,000 after buying an additional 5,949 shares in the last quarter.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of Guidewire Software stock opened at $147.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.16 billion, a PE ratio of -1,131.31 and a beta of 1.19. Guidewire Software has a 1 year low of $83.91 and a 1 year high of $153.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $144.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.64.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The technology company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $240.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.46 million. Guidewire Software had a negative net margin of 1.11% and a negative return on equity of 1.19%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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.