Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target to $373.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $382.00 to $373.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.79% from the company’s current price.

WTW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.92.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

WTW stock opened at $314.00 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $292.97 and a 12-month high of $352.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $333.56 and a 200-day moving average of $319.27. The firm has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a PE ratio of 215.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTW. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 108.7% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 149,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,689,000 after buying an additional 4,166 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,095,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 69,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,981,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 71.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. 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.