Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,279 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,367 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $14,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at $484,210,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,616,000 after purchasing an additional 973,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,580,000 after purchasing an additional 457,025 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $47,883,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1,515.0% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 146,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,890,000 after purchasing an additional 137,422 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $387.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.38.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $328.02 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $32.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -328.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $327.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $316.11.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

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.