Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $325.68, but opened at $306.15. Willis Towers Watson Public shares last traded at $308.27, with a volume of 182,610 shares.

The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.38.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at about $484,210,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,483,000 after buying an additional 1,217,714 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 40,489.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,007,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,947 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $309,616,000 after acquiring an additional 973,843 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 1.6 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $326.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $317.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -302.19, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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.