By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW – Free Report) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,504,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 315,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,771,000 after purchasing an additional 27,669 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 282,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,816 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.15.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Willis Towers Watson Public
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $332.71 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $245.04 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The firm has a market cap of $33.17 billion, a PE ratio of -332.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $326.11 and a 200-day moving average of $311.77.
Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -368.00%.
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.
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