Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Raised to “Buy” at UBS Group

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) was upgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $395.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $344.00. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.31% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WTW. Barclays upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ WTW opened at $328.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.86. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.73 billion, a PE ratio of -328.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.44 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WTW. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,714 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,055,000 after purchasing an additional 285,497 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,343,000 after purchasing an additional 55,542 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.