Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,270 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,864 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $21,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTW. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 72.4% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,555,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,072,000 after buying an additional 653,300 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.0% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,410,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,477,000 after purchasing an additional 445,775 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 201.3% during the third quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 605,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,529,000 after purchasing an additional 404,530 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1,532.2% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 424,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,638,000 after purchasing an additional 398,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 53.5% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,117,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,449,000 after purchasing an additional 389,596 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WTW. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.43.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ WTW opened at $250.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52 week low of $195.29 and a 52 week high of $278.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $269.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.39.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is 35.31%.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

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.