Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Willis Towers Watson Public Put Options (NASDAQ:WTW)

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTWGet Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 2,633 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 565% compared to the typical daily volume of 396 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WTW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $387.00 price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.38.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WTW

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $324.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -324.68, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $317.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTWGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.44 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is -368.00%.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the third quarter worth $39,999,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the third quarter valued at $630,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,103,000 after buying an additional 4,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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