Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 34,645 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. $GWRE

Riverbridge Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 248,875 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 34,645 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $50,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Guidewire Software by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,039,377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,077,791,000 after buying an additional 116,726 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Guidewire Software by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $292,146,000 after acquiring an additional 202,064 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Guidewire Software by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 982,747 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,894,000 after acquiring an additional 251,280 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 856,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $196,872,000 after purchasing an additional 75,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Guidewire Software by 240.0% during the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 850,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $200,132,000 after purchasing an additional 600,000 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GWRE. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $281.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Guidewire Software from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Guidewire Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.85.

Guidewire Software Stock Up 1.3%

GWRE stock opened at $151.34 on Friday. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.37 and a fifty-two week high of $272.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.79, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $146.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.93.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.40. Guidewire Software had a net margin of 14.11% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The company had revenue of $359.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Guidewire Software’s quarterly revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Guidewire Software declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, January 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Guidewire Software

In other Guidewire Software news, President John P. Mullen sold 6,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total transaction of $1,077,543.36. Following the transaction, the president owned 135,407 shares in the company, valued at $22,187,791.02. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total transaction of $44,733.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,533 shares in the company, valued at $2,053,657.38. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,695 shares of company stock worth $5,106,836. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Guidewire Software 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.