Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives $367.11 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $367.11.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,783,316.50. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company's stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 124.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth $406,000. Finally, Sunriver Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 175,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $308.28. The company had a trading volume of 705,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,279. The company has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -616.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $262.57 and a 12-month high of $344.14. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $306.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $316.50.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.53% and a negative net margin of 0.54%. The company's revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is presently -736.00%.

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.