William Blair Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 44.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 627,361 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 493,707 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.75% of Guidewire Software worth $105,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. 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 acquiring an additional 679,558 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Guidewire Software in the third quarter worth $26,501,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 355.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 162,447 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,719,000 after acquiring an additional 126,806 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Guidewire Software by 192.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 134,266 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,635,000 after acquiring an additional 88,304 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Guidewire Software in the fourth quarter worth $12,050,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $231.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Guidewire Software from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

NYSE GWRE opened at $191.66 on Tuesday. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a one year low of $107.00 and a one year high of $219.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $195.71 and a 200 day moving average of $186.41. The company has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 532.39, 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 (NYSE:GWRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.44). Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 2.91%. The business had revenue of $289.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.74 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.79, for a total value of $626,370.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 174,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,485,217.34. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.04, for a total value of $238,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 269,130 shares in the company, valued at $45,762,865.20. The trade was a 0.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,622 shares of company stock worth $5,112,632. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.