Prudential PLC Purchases 6,387 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 48.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,671 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,387 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the company's stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $387.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WTW stock traded down $2.92 on Thursday, reaching $311.89. 184,670 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 557,190. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14. The stock has a market cap of $31.09 billion, a PE ratio of -312.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $327.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.29.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS 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 issued a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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.