Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 39,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,508,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 524.9% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 16,360 shares of the company's stock worth $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 13,742 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1,515.0% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 146,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,890,000 after acquiring an additional 137,422 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $309,616,000 after purchasing an additional 973,843 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,894 shares of the company's stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 37,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,847,000 after buying an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently commented on WTW shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.15.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Willis Towers Watson Public
Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public
In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 3.0 %
Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded down $9.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $299.66. 367,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 549,680. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $329.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.03. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $245.04 and a 12 month high of $344.14. The company has a market cap of $29.87 billion, a PE ratio of -299.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98.
Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released 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 negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.44 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.
About Willis Towers Watson Public
(
Free Report)
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.
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