Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $346.15.

WTW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,561,114 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $484,210,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,616,000 after acquiring an additional 973,843 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $334.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.32. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of -334.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $245.04 and a 12-month high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -368.00%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments: Health, Wealth & Career and Risk & Broking. The company offers strategy and design consulting, plan management service and support, broking and administration services for health, wellbeing, and other group benefit program, including medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary benefits and other coverages; actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for pension and retirement savings plans; retirement consulting services and solutions; and integrated solutions that consists of investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial, and communication and change management assistance services.