Raymond James & Associates Has $34.76 Million Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,106 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,681 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.14% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $34,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,426,000. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 72.4% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,555,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,072,000 after acquiring an additional 653,300 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.0% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,410,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,477,000 after acquiring an additional 445,775 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter valued at approximately $87,241,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 201.3% in the third quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 605,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,529,000 after acquiring an additional 404,530 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded down $0.92 on Friday, hitting $275.00. 559,583 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 505,345. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $268.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $195.29 and a one year high of $278.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.05 by $0.39. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.33 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $316.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.54.

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.