Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for Guidewire Software

On Friday, Needham & Company LLC issued a report reaffirming its "hold" rating on Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE), a notable technology company focused on insurance software solutions. This rating suggests that investors should maintain their current shares in the company rather than buying new ones or selling existing ones.

Other Analyst Ratings

Guidewire Software has attracted attention from various analysts recently. For instance, DA Davidson maintained a "buy" rating and set a target price of $210.00 for the company. Meanwhile, BTIG Research raised their price objective for Guidewire from $140.00 to $165.00 and rated the stock as a "buy" as of late August.

Furthermore, Robert W. Baird increased their price target from $204.00 to $220.00, indicating an "outperform" rating on the stock. Citigroup raised its price target from $123.00 to $165.00, giving it a "neutral" rating. Lastly, JMP Securities adjusted their price target upwards from $200.00 to $231.00, labeling the stock as "market outperform" in late November. Overall, one analyst rates the stock as a sell, two as a hold, and eleven as a buy, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $190.08 according to MarketBeat data.

Guidewire Software Stock Overview

As of Friday, shares of Guidewire Software opened at $206.57. The stock's 50-day moving average stands at $191.59, while the 200-day moving average is at $160.19. The stock has experienced a twelve-month low of $95.02 and a high of $209.15, representing a significant fluctuation. With a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, Guidewire's price-to-earnings ratio is notably high at -2,581.80, accompanied by a PEG ratio of 52.81 and a beta of 1.18, suggesting that the stock is more volatile than the market.

Recent Earnings Report

Guidewire Software recently released its quarterly earnings on September 5th, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62, which exceeded analysts' expectations of $0.54 by $0.08. The company generated $291.50 million in revenue during this quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $283.84 million. Despite these positive results, Guidewire experienced a negative return on equity of 1.29% and a net margin of -0.62%, although its revenue increased by 8.0% compared to the same quarter one year prior. Analysts forecast that the company will post an EPS of 0.53 for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In recent insider trading activities, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Elliott Cooper sold 10,334 shares on September 17th at an average price of $172.16, resulting in a total of $1,779,101.44. Following this sale, Cooper holds 83,367 shares worth approximately $14.35 million, marking an 11.03% decline in shares held. Additionally, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 23,379 shares on the same day, also at $172.16 each, totaling $4,024,928.64, thus reducing his ownership by 7.52% to 287,662 shares valued at around $49.52 million. In total, insiders have sold 52,601 shares worth over $9 million in the last 90 days, representing about 0.48% of the company’s stock ownership held by insiders.

Institutional Investors

Recently, several institutional investors have adjusted their positions regarding Guidewire Software. Rothschild Investment LLC introduced a new stake valued around $31,000 during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. significantly increased its holdings by 537.0% during the third quarter, now owning 172 shares worth approximately $31,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares. Other notable entrants include Point72 Hong Kong Ltd and DT Investment Partners LLC, both establishing new stakes valued at $33,000 and $41,000 respectively. Brooklyn Investment Group also newly acquired shares worth about $42,000 during the third quarter.

Company Background

Guidewire Software, Inc. specializes in providing technology solutions for property and casualty (P&C) insurers globally. Their offerings include Guidewire InsuranceSuite Cloud, which comprises applications like PolicyCenter Cloud, BillingCenter Cloud, and ClaimCenter Cloud. Additionally, they provide Guidewire InsuranceNow, a comprehensive cloud-based platform for policy, billing, and claims management, and Guidewire InsuranceSuite for those interested in self-managed solutions.

Guidewire, Stock, Investment