Willis Towers Watson Public's (WTW) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $387.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.38.

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Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 2.2 %

WTW traded up $6.94 on Wednesday, hitting $328.68. 243,786 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 559,742. 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 $32.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -328.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $326.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.87. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $245.04 and a twelve month high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. 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 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 18.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 19.2% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 4,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,569 shares of the company's stock worth $3,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,587 shares of the company's stock worth $4,296,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.