abrdn plc Trims Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

abrdn plc lowered its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,650 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,092 shares during the period. abrdn plc's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $11,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% in 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 raised its holdings 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 valued at $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $711,718,000 after purchasing an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $589,698,000 after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,619,000 after purchasing an additional 128,558 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded down $5.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $319.23. 667,928 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,482. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12-month low of $245.04 and a 12-month high of $334.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $317.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.69. The stock has a market cap of $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -319.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.72 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is currently -352.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WTW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $338.69.

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.