Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Given New $320.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $330.00 to $320.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on WTW. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $365.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $365.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $375.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $351.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $318.00 to $341.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.36.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $291.03 on Monday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $275.60 and a one year high of $352.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.62.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $8.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.93 by $0.19. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 16.53% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is 23.44%.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 179,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,102,000 after acquiring an additional 12,575 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.4% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 23,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,277,000 after acquiring an additional 4,859 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 196,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,996,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.0% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 679,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,738,000 after acquiring an additional 19,515 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 512.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,757,000 after acquiring an additional 36,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company’s core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.