Syntax Research Inc. Purchases Shares of 6,988 Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,142,000. Willis Towers Watson Public accounts for about 1.5% of Syntax Research Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter valued at $195,043,000. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 185.1% in the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 366,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,872,000 after buying an additional 237,953 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter valued at $60,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,618.7% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 126,781 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,846,000 after buying an additional 124,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 85.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 169,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,309,000 after buying an additional 78,342 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WTW. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $351.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.09.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.5%

WTW opened at $345.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.73 billion, a PE ratio of 236.84, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 1-year low of $286.35 and a 1-year high of $347.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $330.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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 net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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%.

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.

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