Citigroup Cuts Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target to $312.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its target price trimmed by Citigroup from $315.00 to $312.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

WTW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $297.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an outperform rating and a $316.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $296.00.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $254.70 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $268.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.26. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $195.29 and a 52-week high of $278.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.27 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.31%.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,442,722 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $300,782,000. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 653,300 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.0% during the third 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. acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $107,010,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by 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.