Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Bought by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 28.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,336 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $11,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTW. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $413,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the third quarter worth $490,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued 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 an average target price of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $337.43 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.64 billion, a PE ratio of -337.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98.

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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -368.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.