Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target Raised to $382.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $377.00 to $382.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $336.99 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 230.82, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $287.05 and a 52-week high of $352.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $334.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.90.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently 252.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter worth $367,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 13.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 589 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.6% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 41.0% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

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.