Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Reduces Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Key Points

• Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. reduced its stake in Willis Towers Watson by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, owning 67,965 shares valued at approximately $20.8 million, making it the firm's 8th largest holding.
• Willis Towers Watson recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.86, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.65, although its revenue showed a slight decrease of 0.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92, leading to an annualized yield of 1.1%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 252.05%.

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,965 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,734 shares during the period. Willis Towers Watson Public makes up about 3.8% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $20,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,856,440 shares of the company's stock worth $965,334,000 after buying an additional 67,898 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,057,635 shares of the company's stock worth $357,428,000 after buying an additional 69,205 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 40,489.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,007,429 shares of the company's stock worth $340,461,000 after buying an additional 1,004,947 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 953,544 shares of the company's stock worth $322,250,000 after buying an additional 17,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 936,390 shares of the company's stock worth $293,315,000 after buying an additional 91,973 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $339.10. 102,389 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 634,602. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52 week low of $286.35 and a 52 week high of $344.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $324.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $33.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 231.84, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is currently 252.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WTW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $355.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $351.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $362.92.

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.