Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $395.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $344.00. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 18.08% from the company’s current price.

WTW has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $334.51 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $325.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -334.51, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

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.