Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Stock Holdings Lifted by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 315,319 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 27,669 shares during the quarter. Willis Towers Watson Public makes up approximately 1.3% of River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 0.31% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $98,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTW. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake 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 during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company's stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTW. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW traded down $4.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $322.24. 402,059 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 503,461. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $323.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $309.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -321.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $245.04 and a 12 month high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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.