JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 47,054 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 234,321 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,054 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.23% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $73,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTW. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,170,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 154,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,697,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 179.0% during the 4th quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 30,550 shares of the company's stock worth $9,569,000 after purchasing an additional 19,600 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW stock traded up $1.05 on Tuesday, hitting $302.06. 1,128,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 556,313. The firm's 50 day moving average is $327.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $315.12. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of -302.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.44 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 business also recently declared 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 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 dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the 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 directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTW has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted 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 issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.15.

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.