Legal & General Group Plc Has $206.81 Million Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 660,229 shares of the company's stock after selling 155,425 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.66% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $206,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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 lifted their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $387.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.38.

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Insider Buying and Selling

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded down $1.01 on Tuesday, hitting $327.01. 184,459 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 559,771. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm's 50-day moving average is $327.10 and its 200 day moving average is $316.11. The stock has a market cap of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -327.01, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52-week low of $245.04 and a 52-week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $7.44 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

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

About Willis Towers Watson Public

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.