Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target to $317.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $307.00 to $317.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $288.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. TD Cowen started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an outperform rating and a $316.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $290.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $260.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $195.29 and a one year high of $278.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $272.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.81. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.05 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is 35.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value 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 approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,946,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,078,484,000 after buying an additional 98,719 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,568,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,062,000 after buying an additional 158,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,403,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,242,000 after buying an additional 11,773 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,021,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,434,000 after buying an additional 25,794 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,555,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,072,000 after buying an additional 653,300 shares during the period. 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.