Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 679 Shares of Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,638 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 679 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Guidewire Software were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Guidewire Software by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 539 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,451 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Guidewire Software by 537.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 21,302 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Guidewire Software during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GWRE shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Guidewire Software from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $231.00 target price on shares of Guidewire Software in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Guidewire Software from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Guidewire Software presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.50.

Guidewire Software Price Performance

Shares of GWRE stock opened at $186.54 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.38. The company has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 518.17, a P/E/G ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 1.25. Guidewire Software, Inc. has a one year low of $107.00 and a one year high of $219.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.44). Guidewire Software had a return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 2.91%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Guidewire Software, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Guidewire Software news, insider James Winston King sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total value of $47,190.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,664 shares in the company, valued at $7,981,153.92. The trade was a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael George Rosenbaum sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.68, for a total value of $300,552.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,979,036.40. This trade represents a 0.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,656 shares of company stock valued at $7,856,836 in the last three months. 0.48% of the stock is currently 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.