Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Acquired by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,475 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,780,000 after purchasing an additional 8,228 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $626,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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 raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $351.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $309.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.64. 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 Limited has a 12-month low of $248.09 and a 12-month high of $344.14.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.