Westpac Banking Corp Boosts Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 106.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,026 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth $484,210,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,616,000 after buying an additional 973,843 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 604,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,412,000 after buying an additional 12,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WTW shares. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW stock opened at $308.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -308.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $314.72. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently -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.