Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $304.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $272.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WTW. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $297.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $298.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $296.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.3 %

WTW opened at $253.20 on Wednesday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $195.29 and a one year high of $278.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $261.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.27 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,946,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,078,484,000 after acquiring an additional 98,719 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,568,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,062,000 after acquiring an additional 158,234 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,021,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,434,000 after acquiring an additional 25,794 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 72.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4,811.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,472,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,217,000 after buying an additional 1,442,722 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by 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.