Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Stake Lessened by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 2.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,934 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,639 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $17,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,991,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,002,000 after buying an additional 98,922 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,123,000 after buying an additional 261,562 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth approximately $300,782,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,904,000 after buying an additional 185,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 53.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 638,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,352,000 after buying an additional 221,108 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.4 %

WTW stock opened at $290.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $202.72 and a 1 year high of $296.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.93. The firm has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.27. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently 35.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WTW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $304.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.73.

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.