Brokerages Set Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Target Price at $290.54

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $290.54.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTW. Citigroup raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen began coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $316.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $307.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $264.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.76. The stock has a market cap of $27.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $195.29 and a 1 year high of $278.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.05 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 15.70% and a net margin of 11.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 43.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 124.8% in the third quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 650.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 45.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 18,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,723 shares during the last quarter. 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.