Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Purchased by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,894 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $631,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WTW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $308.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.79 billion, a PE ratio of -308.80, 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 Limited has a 12-month low of $245.04 and a 12-month high of $344.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $329.30 and a 200 day moving average of $314.87.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

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.