HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,286 shares and ending with 15,212 shares valued at about $5.0 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but generally positive: recent updates included upgrades from Citigroup, BMO Capital Markets, and Truist Financial, with the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $351.73.
• WTW reported solid quarterly results and a dividend, beating EPS expectations with $3.72 per share and posting 8.5% revenue growth year over year, while also declaring a $0.96 quarterly dividend payable July 15.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,212 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,286 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $4,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 184.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,632,191 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,254,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353,768 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,038,275 shares of the company's stock worth $318,231,000 after acquiring an additional 462,249 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 56.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 745,074 shares of the company's stock worth $228,365,000 after acquiring an additional 269,794 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 546.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 255,679 shares of the company's stock worth $88,324,000 after acquiring an additional 216,124 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,645.5% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 213,089 shares of the company's stock worth $73,612,000 after acquiring an additional 209,930 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WTW. Citigroup upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $379.00 to $351.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $347.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $351.73.

Insider Activity

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Lucy Clarke purchased 1,896 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $263.37 per share, with a total value of $499,349.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,982,976.29. This trade represents a 9.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $252.01 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $276.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $23.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.45. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 12-month low of $240.61 and a 12-month high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $3.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 16.84%.Willis Towers Watson Public's revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.39%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public NASDAQ: WTW is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company's core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.

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