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

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $333.64.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.6 %

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $322.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.30, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12 month low of $242.54 and a 12 month high of $334.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $315.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.29.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 7.36% and a positive return on equity of 18.57%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -48.35%.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% in the third 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 raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after acquiring an additional 19,623 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,718,000 after acquiring an additional 48,384 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,698,000 after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,619,000 after acquiring an additional 128,558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

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.