Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) CFO Andrew Jay Krasner Sells 1,600 Shares

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,783,316.50. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

WTW traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $308.03. 120,446 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 585,042. The firm has a market cap of $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -308.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $313.26 and its 200 day moving average is $319.16. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $253.03 and a one year high of $344.14. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -736.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,484 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,856,440 shares of the company's stock worth $965,334,000 after acquiring an additional 67,898 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company's stock worth $698,055,000 after buying an additional 285,497 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,343,000 after acquiring an additional 55,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $484,210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WTW. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $356.30.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company 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.