Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Given New $303.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its target price boosted by Piper Sandler from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $307.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $293.43.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 2.3 %

WTW opened at $250.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12 month low of $195.29 and a 12 month high of $278.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $269.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.10.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,946,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,078,484,000 after buying an additional 98,719 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,568,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,062,000 after buying an additional 158,234 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,021,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,434,000 after buying an additional 25,794 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 72.4% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,555,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,072,000 after buying an additional 653,300 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4,811.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,472,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442,722 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.