Sterling Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 51.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,161 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,095 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTW. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,013 shares of the company's stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.38.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded down $3.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $321.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 658,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,632. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $327.00 and a 200-day moving average of $316.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -321.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $245.04 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.44 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is -368.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.