Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Coverage Initiated at Citigroup

Research analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.36% from the stock’s previous close.

WTW has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $364.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $330.00 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $308.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.72. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $279.08 and a one year high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 226.03, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total value of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,783,316.50. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 162,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,954,000 after buying an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 107,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,073,000 after purchasing an additional 13,498 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,038,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,231,000 after purchasing an additional 462,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 127.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,374,000 after purchasing an additional 6,174 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is 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.