Brokerages Set Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target at $309.47

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $309.47.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $321.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $295.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.2% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,991,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,002,000 after purchasing an additional 98,922 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,123,000 after buying an additional 261,562 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,652,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,225,000 after buying an additional 96,981 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.6% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,122,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,246,000 after acquiring an additional 39,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,904,000 after acquiring an additional 185,126 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $290.03 on Monday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $203.36 and a 52-week high of $303.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $289.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.68%.

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.