Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Invests $5.93 Million in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 18,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,932,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,197 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised 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 purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company's stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WTW. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on 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. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $351.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of WTW stock traded up $1.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $311.93. 534,701 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 581,367. The stock has a market cap of $30.93 billion, a PE ratio of -311.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $319.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.87. 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 Limited has a 12 month low of $248.09 and a 12 month high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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%. Willis Towers Watson Public's revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors 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 yield of 1.18%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is -736.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents 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 link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.