Guidewire CFO sells over $2.6 million in company stock

Jeffrey Elliott Cooper, the Chief Financial Officer of Guidewire (NYSE:GWRE ) Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE), has sold a substantial number of shares in the company, according to recent filings. The transactions, which took place on September 17 and 19, involved the sale of 15,290 shares at prices ranging from $171.9191 to $173.88, resulting in a total value of approximately $2.6 million.

On September 17, Cooper sold 10,334 shares of Guidewire stock at a price of $172.1596 per share, totaling around $1.78 million. Two days later, on September 19, he further disposed of 4,956 shares in multiple transactions with prices ranging from $171.9191 to $173.88, accumulating to nearly $855,922 in sales.

The transactions on September 19 were executed under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan, which allows company insiders to sell stocks at predetermined times to avoid accusations of insider trading. It is worth noting that some of these sales were made to cover taxes related to the settlement of Restricted Stock Units, as indicated in the footnotes of the filing.

Following these transactions, Cooper's direct ownership in Guidewire Software stands at 78,411 shares. The sales are part of normal stock trading activities by company executives and are reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission through Form 4 filings.

Investors and market watchers often monitor insider sales as they may provide insights into executives’ perspectives on the company's current valuation and future prospects. Guidewire Software, specializing in prepackaged software services, continues to be a significant player in its industry, with its stock performance being closely watched by investors.



In other recent news, Guidewire Software Inc . has been the focus of multiple analyst firms. Baird maintained an Outperform rating on Guidewire, highlighting the company's potential for Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) growth and robust financial health in the Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance market. Citi raised its price target for Guidewire to $165, while maintaining a Neutral rating, citing strong Q4 bookings and improved profitability. DA Davidson also lifted its stock price target for Guidewire to $186, maintaining a Buy rating due to strong cloud sales.

These recent developments come after Guidewire's robust Q4 performance, which included a 14% year-over-year growth in ARR, 16 cloud deals secured, and an increase in fully ramped ARR by 19%. The company's cloud offerings are expected to continue gaining momentum, driving ARR growth. Guidewire's management has provided fiscal 2025 guidance that surpasses prior forecasts, contributing to the decision to raise the price target.

Guidewire is also forecasting hitting the $1 billion ARR milestone in the current fiscal year, driven by its successful cloud platform. The company anticipates becoming GAAP profitable in fiscal year 2025, with total revenue expected to be between $1.135 billion and $1.149 billion. These projections reflect Guidewire's strong growth and future potential.
InvestingPro Insights


Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) has recently seen notable insider trading activity, with the CFO selling a significant number of shares. In light of these events, it's beneficial to look at some key metrics and insights provided by InvestingPro to gauge the company's financial health and stock performance.

The company holds a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, reflecting its substantial size in the prepackaged software services industry. Despite its impressive market cap, Guidewire's Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio stands at -2350, indicating that the market has high growth expectations from the company, which has yet to be reflected in net income. This is further evidenced by an even higher adjusted P/E ratio for the last twelve months as of Q4 2024, at -3128.12. The Price to Book (P/B) ratio is also quite high at 10.8, suggesting that the stock is trading at a premium compared to the company's book value.

InvestingPro Tips reveal that Guidewire is expected to see net income growth this year, with analysts having revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period. This aligns with the positive revenue growth of 8.3% over the last twelve months, demonstrating the company's ability to increase its sales. Additionally, the high return over the last year, with a price total return of 86.51%, highlights the stock's strong performance in the market.

For investors seeking more detailed analysis and additional insights, there are 14 more InvestingPro Tips available, including information on cash versus debt balance, profitability predictions for the year, and technical analysis indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI).

With the next earnings date approaching on December 5, 2024, and analysts setting a fair value target at $177, compared to the InvestingPro Fair Value estimate of $121.11, investors will be watching closely to see if the company can meet these growth expectations and justify its current valuation multiples.

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Source: Investing.com