Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $342.08.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTW. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lifted 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 report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 28.3% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 104,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,753,000 after purchasing an additional 23,001 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 71.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,156,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $321.10 on Thursday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $323.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $309.96. The company has a market cap of $32.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -321.10, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 1.15%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently -368.00%.

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.