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

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

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,559,000. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.11.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of WTW stock traded down $2.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $307.39. 244,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 609,898. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 1 year low of $257.58 and a 1 year high of $344.14. The company's 50 day moving average is $306.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of -614.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.68.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.53% and a negative net margin of 0.54%. The firm's revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company 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 given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -736.00%.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of the company's 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 approximately $3,783,316.50. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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.