abrdn plc Purchases 17,565 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 67.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,754 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,565 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $10,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 650.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 18,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 15,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,234,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of WTW opened at $256.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $270.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $195.29 and a 1-year high of $278.86.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently 35.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.54.

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.