Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $13.27 Million Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,368 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,151 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $13,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $484,210,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 277.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 844,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,706,000 after acquiring an additional 620,926 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 47,515.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 499,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,255,000 after acquiring an additional 498,915 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,580,000 after acquiring an additional 457,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth about $47,883,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $340.88 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $328.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $313.04. The firm has a market cap of $33.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -340.88, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. 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 yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -368.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public 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 approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.