Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 1,961 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,507 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $3,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTW. FMR LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company's stock worth $873,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,714 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,055,000 after purchasing an additional 285,497 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,343,000 after purchasing an additional 55,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $484,210,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued 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 an average target price of $351.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.4%

WTW stock traded down $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $312.74. 398,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 581,848. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $248.09 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The firm's 50 day moving average is $318.97 and its 200 day moving average is $319.41. The firm has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -312.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is -736.00%.

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.