Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 2,192 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,585 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $11,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,991,311 shares of the company's stock worth $522,002,000 after purchasing an additional 98,922 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $453,123,000 after acquiring an additional 261,562 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,652,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,225,000 after acquiring an additional 96,981 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,122,475 shares of the company's stock worth $294,246,000 after acquiring an additional 39,288 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,728 shares of the company's stock worth $263,904,000 after purchasing an additional 185,126 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WTW shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $278.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $295.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $334.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.27.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded down $1.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $315.90. The company had a trading volume of 643,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,806. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52 week low of $234.00 and a 52 week high of $320.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The business's 50 day moving average price is $293.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.54. The stock has a market cap of $31.82 billion, a PE ratio of -43.39, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. Analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is presently -48.35%.

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.