Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,321 Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,040,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTW. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WTW shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $351.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.6%

WTW traded down $1.91 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $310.83. 548,376 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 583,479. The stock has a market cap of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -310.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $248.09 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $318.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $319.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.27 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.