Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 1,850 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,750 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $14,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WTW. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target 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 lifted 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 assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given 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 $346.15.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $332.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.17 billion, a PE ratio of -332.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $326.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.90. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -368.00%.

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.