Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $3.03 Million Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 40.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,661 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,638 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $3,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,714 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,055,000 after purchasing an additional 285,497 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,343,000 after buying an additional 55,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $484,210,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of WTW opened at $309.05 on Monday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $248.09 and a one year high of $344.14. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -309.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.84.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is -736.00%.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other 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 transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WTW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.55.

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.