Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes $5.93 Million Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 18,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,932,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,286.4% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 862,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,284,000 after buying an additional 849,358 shares during the period. Game Creek Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Game Creek Capital LP now owns 13,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,150,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 87,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,548,000 after buying an additional 20,984 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 13,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,322,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $307.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of -307.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52-week low of $248.09 and a 52-week high of $344.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $320.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.96.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -736.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.