Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target Raised to $372.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price objective hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $366.00 to $372.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

WTW has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald began 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 objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.09.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $344.10 on Monday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $286.35 and a one year high of $346.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $33.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 235.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $329.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.41.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.21. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently 252.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 168.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.