Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 1,178 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company by 7.8%, acquiring an additional 1,178 shares, bringing its total holdings to 16,291 shares valued at approximately $5.5 million.
• Several institutional investors, including LPL Financial LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co., also boosted their stakes in WTW, highlighting a trend of increasing institutional interest in the company.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.86, exceeding expectations, while also announcing a dividend of $0.92 per share with a yield of 1.2% despite a high payout ratio of 252.05%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,291 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $5,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 54.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,951 shares of the company's stock worth $8,129,000 after acquiring an additional 9,150 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 234,321 shares of the company's stock worth $73,399,000 after acquiring an additional 47,054 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,894 shares of the company's stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,026 shares of the company's stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total value of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 11,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,783,316.50. This represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WTW shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.11.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.3%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $314.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $306.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $316.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 215.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.68. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 12 month low of $271.01 and a 12 month high of $344.14.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is 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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