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

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $296.14.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $317.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $312.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $297.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTW. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth about $2,939,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth about $4,512,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth about $58,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth about $278,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 136.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 175 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $252.50 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1-year low of $195.29 and a 1-year high of $278.86. The company has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $262.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently 35.31%.

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.