Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WTW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth about $484,210,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company's stock worth $1,153,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,217,714 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company's stock worth $309,616,000 after purchasing an additional 973,843 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,286.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 862,869 shares of the company's stock worth $270,284,000 after purchasing an additional 849,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $356.30.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WTW traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $316.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 87,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,900. The company has a fifty day moving average of $315.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $319.23. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $248.57 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The company has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -315.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is -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.