Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,557 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,805 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.15% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $46,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company's stock worth $55,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $993,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 18.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,511 shares of the company's stock worth $3,978,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 30,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WTW shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $387.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.38.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $326.87. 175,738 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 559,727. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52 week low of $245.04 and a 52 week high of $344.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $327.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.59 billion, a PE ratio of -326.87, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -368.00%.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.