Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $330.67, but opened at $312.05. Willis Towers Watson Public shares last traded at $316.85, with a volume of 161,369 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTW. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.64.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $317.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.99, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 7.36% and a positive return on equity of 18.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently -48.35%.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,718,000 after buying an additional 48,384 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,698,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,619,000 after buying an additional 128,558 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

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.