Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 121,600 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 35.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 224,088 shares of the company's stock after selling 121,600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.22% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $70,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.25.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $302.56. The company had a trading volume of 205,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 571,800. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -302.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $317.80. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $248.09 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is -736.00%.

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.