Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates Outperform Rating for Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW)

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.22% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $316.64 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.48. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14. The firm has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -316.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.44 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

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

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,483,000 after buying an additional 1,217,714 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,055,000 after acquiring an additional 285,497 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,343,000 after purchasing an additional 55,542 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.