Cohen & Steers Inc. Sells 145 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Cohen & Steers Inc. lowered its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth approximately $484,210,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,616,000 after acquiring an additional 973,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $143,580,000 after acquiring an additional 457,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,055,000 after purchasing an additional 285,497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $327.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of -327.16, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12-month low of $245.04 and a 12-month high of $344.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $316.19.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently -368.00%.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents 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. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTW. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $387.00 price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.38.

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.