Bessemer Group Inc. Grows Stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 35.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,906 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,662 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Guidewire Software worth $18,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,234 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the first quarter valued at $553,000. Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in Guidewire Software during the first quarter valued at $239,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Guidewire Software by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 20,500 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Guidewire Software by 547.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,334 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,537,000 after buying an additional 997,992 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GWRE shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Guidewire Software from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Guidewire Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $220.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, President John P. Mullen sold 4,292 shares of Guidewire Software stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total transaction of $509,632.08. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 131,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,568,595.10. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 246 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.74, for a total value of $29,210.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,458,958.38. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,393 shares of company stock worth $3,960,558. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software Trading Up 0.7%

Guidewire Software stock opened at $149.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.44. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.30 and a fifty-two week high of $272.60. The stock has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.04 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.78.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.08. Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 11.25%.The company had revenue of $372.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guidewire Software Company Profile

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.