Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,279 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,367 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $14,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth $484,210,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,580,000 after buying an additional 457,025 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $47,883,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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 value of $1,136,245.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WTW shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $387.00 target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.38.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 1.1 %

WTW traded down $3.73 on Friday, hitting $321.00. The company had a trading volume of 658,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,632. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $344.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -321.00, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $327.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

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

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.