Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

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

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTW. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $328.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -328.33, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $324.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.86. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend 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.