Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Raised to “Buy” at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $395.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $344.00.

WTW has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 2.0 %

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $334.97 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $245.04 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -334.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.92 dividend. 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 1.10%. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.