Deutsche Bank AG reissued their sell rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WLTW) in a research report report published on Wednesday. They currently have a $130.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $121.00.
Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Group LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a buy rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Citigroup Inc. lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company restated a sell rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $152.69.
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ WLTW) traded down 0.85% on Wednesday, reaching $147.97. 1,022,674 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $112.76 and a 12 month high of $151.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.88 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $147.24 and a 200-day moving average of $136.96.
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WLTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 4.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post $8.43 earnings per share for the current year.
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The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 28th. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.81%.
In related news, insider Jeffrey W. Ubben sold 1,000,000 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.53, for a total transaction of $140,530,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey W. Ubben sold 445,000 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.03, for a total transaction of $64,538,350.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,493,178 shares of company stock worth $361,886,138 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited by 2,106.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,379,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $704,098,000 after buying an additional 5,135,491 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited by 27.4% in the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 7,910,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,392,000 after buying an additional 1,701,826 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited by 38.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,261,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,030,000 after buying an additional 633,495 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited by 1,026.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 518,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,924,000 after buying an additional 472,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,360,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,886,000 after buying an additional 416,476 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Willis Towers Watson Public Limited
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (Willis Towers Watson) is a holding company. The Company operates as a global advisory, broking and solutions company. It is engaged in offering risk management, insurance broking, consulting, technology and solutions, and private exchanges. The Company operates through eight segments: Willis International; Willis North America; Willis Capital, Wholesale & Reinsurance (CWR); Willis GB; Towers Watson Benefits; Towers Watson Exchange Solutions; Towers Watson Risk and Financial Services; and Towers Watson Talent and Rewards.
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