Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,780 Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Key Points

• Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. has acquired 3,780 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company, valued at approximately $1,162,000.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Willis Towers Watson, with current average ratings suggesting a "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $369.42.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92, indicating a yield of 1.1%, along with an authorized share buyback program worth $1.50 billion.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at approximately $195,043,000. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 185.1% in the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 366,539 shares of the company's stock worth $123,872,000 after acquiring an additional 237,953 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter worth $60,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,618.7% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 126,781 shares of the company's stock worth $42,846,000 after acquiring an additional 124,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 85.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 169,579 shares of the company's stock worth $57,309,000 after acquiring an additional 78,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $366.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $369.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of WTW opened at $328.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 12-month low of $287.05 and a 12-month high of $352.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $335.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 224.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.21. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is presently 252.05%.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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