Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $346.38.

A number of research firms have recently commented on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $387.00 target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

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Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW stock traded up $5.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $321.74. The stock had a trading volume of 605,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 560,938. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -321.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52 week low of $245.04 and a 52 week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company'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 directly owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 924 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth approximately $262,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the first quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,368 shares of the company's stock worth $6,207,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.