Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Stock

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $335.00 to $345.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 2.84% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WTW. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.92.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.8%

WTW opened at $335.47 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 229.78, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.67. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $280.37 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $310.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $316.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 11,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,783,316.50. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 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.