Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target to $345.00

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $380.00 to $345.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.64.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $322.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a PE ratio of -44.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $242.54 and a 1 year high of $334.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -48.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,298,000 after buying an additional 7,561,114 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,027,000 after acquiring an additional 19,623 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,718,000 after acquiring an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,698,000 after acquiring an additional 10,856 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,619,000 after purchasing an additional 128,558 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.