First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the period. Willis Towers Watson Public comprises approximately 2.8% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $13,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTW. 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $338.69.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $325.18 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $245.04 and a 12 month high of $334.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $317.78 and a 200-day moving average of $302.36.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -352.00%.

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.