Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Stake Lessened by Hosking Partners LLP

Hosking Partners LLP cut its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 32,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,253 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $10,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $633,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,580,000 after buying an additional 457,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 40,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,612,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WTW. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.3 %

WTW opened at $335.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $320.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -335.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $245.04 and a 12 month high of $339.12.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.