Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,612,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $484,210,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,483,000 after buying an additional 1,217,714 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,616,000 after acquiring an additional 973,843 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,286.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 862,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,284,000 after acquiring an additional 849,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.30.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.3%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $309.02 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12-month low of $248.09 and a 12-month high of $344.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.64 billion, a PE ratio of -309.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -736.00%.

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.