Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,612,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,672 shares of the company's stock worth $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 351.2% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,909 shares of the company's stock worth $11,280,000 after purchasing an additional 27,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 239.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,831 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,043,000 after buying an additional 31,643 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $356.30.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $312.78. 143,798 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 584,938. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -312.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $248.09 and a 1-year high of $344.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $316.26 and a 200 day moving average of $319.23.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). The company 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 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.