Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Has $6.53 Million Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lowered its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,853 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,305 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,187 shares of the company's stock worth $3,504,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 13,783 shares of the company's stock worth $4,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 315,319 shares of the company's stock worth $98,771,000 after acquiring an additional 27,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WTW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW traded up $5.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $324.61. The company had a trading volume of 627,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,666. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $323.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.45. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $32.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -324.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 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 1.13%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Willis Towers Watson Public 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.