First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Has $12.63 Million Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Key Points

• First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8%, ending the quarter with shares valued at approximately $12.63 million.
• Several hedge funds have recently increased their stakes in Willis Towers Watson, indicating a positive sentiment from institutional investors, who own 93.09% of the company's stock.
• Willis Towers Watson declared an upcoming quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, with a planned payout date of October 15th, contributing to an annualized yield of 1.1%.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,211 shares of the company's stock after selling 743 shares during the quarter. Willis Towers Watson Public accounts for approximately 2.5% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $12,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 51.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 491 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 928 shares of the company's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,625 shares of the company's stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $351.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $369.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $336.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a PE ratio of 230.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.73. 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 1 year low of $287.05 and a 1 year high of $352.79. The firm's 50-day moving average is $334.59 and its 200-day moving average is $318.90.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 252.05%.

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.

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