Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target Raised to $382.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has raised the price target for Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) from $377.00 to $382.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.51% from the current price.
• Willis Towers Watson reported $2.86 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.65.
• The company recently announced a $1.50 billion share repurchase program, reflecting management's confidence in the stock's valuation.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $377.00 to $382.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential upside of 9.51% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on WTW. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $355.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $369.17.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded down $1.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $348.84. 31,538 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 627,152. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $287.05 and a 12-month high of $352.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $332.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $318.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a PE ratio of 238.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. Willis Towers Watson Public's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company's stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,941 shares of the company's stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,108 shares of the company's stock worth $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 1st quarter worth about $406,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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