Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC decreased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 32.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 134,138 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,001 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $42,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $321.10 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $309.96. 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 current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $32.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -321.10, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.