Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Short Interest Update

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, an increase of 38.2% from the December 31st total of 1,020,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 670,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTW. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $333.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 144.5% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,203 shares of the company's stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 41,939 shares of the company's stock worth $13,266,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $42,964,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded up $5.29 on Thursday, reaching $329.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 466,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,498. The company has a market capitalization of $33.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52 week low of $242.54 and a 52 week high of $334.99. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $316.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.12.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -48.35%.

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.