Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,273 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $7,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,561,114 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $772,027,000 after buying an additional 19,623 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company's stock worth $711,718,000 after buying an additional 48,384 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company's stock worth $589,698,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company's stock worth $524,619,000 after buying an additional 128,558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WTW shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $334.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $326.33.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 1.0 %

WTW stock traded down $3.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $314.38. 411,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 518,604. The company has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.15. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $237.08 and a 12 month high of $334.99.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 7.36% and a positive return on equity of 18.57%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is -48.35%.

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.