Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 520 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WTW shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WTW stock opened at $324.61 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $323.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.30. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $32.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -324.61, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

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.