Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target to $318.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $320.00 to $318.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WTW. Citigroup raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price target for the company from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an outperform rating and a $316.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $290.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $260.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $195.29 and a fifty-two week high of $278.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $272.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.05 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,442,722 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth approximately $300,782,000. Baupost Group LLC MA grew 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 purchasing an additional 653,300 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,410,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,477,000 after purchasing an additional 445,775 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth approximately $107,010,000. 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.