River Road Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 261,499 shares of the company's stock after selling 60,945 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $63,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth approximately $1,203,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth approximately $2,942,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth approximately $18,677,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth approximately $29,367,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $259.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 518,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,789. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $271.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.81. 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 market cap of $26.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.13%.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $290.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.