Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives $351.73 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $350.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $379.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $363.00 to $354.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $262.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a current ratio of 2.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $269.49 and a 200-day moving average of $297.53. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52 week low of $240.61 and a 52 week high of $352.79. The company has a market capitalization of $24.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.43.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $3.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is 22.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lucy Clarke purchased 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $263.37 per share, for a total transaction of $499,349.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,982,976.29. The trade was a 9.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,372,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,928,792,000 after acquiring an additional 103,784 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,925,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,275,728,000 after acquiring an additional 3,293,334 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,505,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,808,000 after acquiring an additional 664,202 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,212,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $727,149,000 after acquiring an additional 57,162 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $511,151,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.