Brown Advisory Inc. Buys 8,892 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW)

Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,077 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,892 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $19,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WTW shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total value of $505,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,783,316.50. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WTW stock opened at $308.51 on Thursday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a twelve month low of $255.19 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $306.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -617.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.68.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 0.54% and a positive return on equity of 20.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. 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.

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