Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Trims Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lowered its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,069,871 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,356 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 1.06% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $335,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.4% in the third quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 19,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,625,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,014 shares of the company's stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $993,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded down $0.50 on Thursday, reaching $336.93. 220,905 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 542,073. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.59 billion, a PE ratio of -336.93, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $329.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $314.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. 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 1.09%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is -368.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WTW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.