Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,954 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,233 shares during the period. Willis Towers Watson Public accounts for about 3.0% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $14,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company's stock worth $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company's stock worth $873,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,714 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,055,000 after acquiring an additional 285,497 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,343,000 after purchasing an additional 55,542 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $484,210,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $356.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 11,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,783,316.50. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW traded up $2.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $306.63. 426,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 605,235. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -613.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52 week low of $255.19 and a 52 week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.53% and a negative net margin of 0.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is presently -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.