Invesco Ltd. Grows Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,228,497 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,497 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $698,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $484,210,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the 4th 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. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,580,000 after acquiring an additional 457,025 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,883,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $301.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $328.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.12. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of -301.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -368.00%.

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.