Zacks Research Downgrades Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) to Hold

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Guidewire Software’s Q2 2027 earnings at $0.66 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Guidewire Software from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Guidewire Software from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Guidewire Software from $250.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.46.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

GWRE stock opened at $137.55 on Monday. Guidewire Software has a 1 year low of $115.57 and a 1 year high of $272.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 2.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $141.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.33. The firm has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last posted 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 return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 14.11%.The firm had revenue of $359.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Guidewire Software’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Guidewire Software will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.51, for a total transaction of $166,212.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 209,206 shares in the company, valued at $28,977,123.06. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO David Franklin Peterson sold 273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.86, for a total value of $44,733.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,053,657.38. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,479 shares of company stock valued at $5,024,174. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guidewire Software

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GWRE. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter worth $202,405,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 547.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,537,000 after purchasing an additional 997,992 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 405.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 538,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $126,743,000 after purchasing an additional 431,725 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,445,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $290,501,000 after purchasing an additional 405,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Guidewire Software by 179.0% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 628,759 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $94,037,000 after purchasing an additional 403,370 shares in the last quarter.

About Guidewire Software

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.