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

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $367.11.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,783,316.50. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $304.39 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $306.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.64. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $262.57 and a 12-month high of $344.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.18 billion, a PE ratio of -608.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.54% and a positive return on equity of 20.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently -736.00%.

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.