Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Reaches New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $335.99 and last traded at $336.56, with a volume of 92373 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $332.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTW. Barclays raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $34.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -339.65, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day moving average is $320.85 and its 200 day moving average is $307.20.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $25,485,000. Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $510,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,113 shares of the company's stock worth $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,197 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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.