River Global Investors LLP Trims Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

River Global Investors LLP lowered its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,141 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,370 shares during the period. Willis Towers Watson Public comprises about 1.1% of River Global Investors LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTW. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter worth about $502,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.7% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 259,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,226,000 after purchasing an additional 18,657 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1,736.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,619,000 after purchasing an additional 53,391 shares during the period. Finally, Seed Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $236.00 to $298.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.00.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $251.99. 364,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,147. The company has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.52. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $195.29 and a 1 year high of $278.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.31%.

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.