Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys 118 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,463 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth about $6,801,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 604,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,412,000 after purchasing an additional 12,162 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 news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $337.22 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $245.04 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $326.63 and its 200 day moving average is $312.33. The company has a market cap of $33.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -337.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. 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 $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.15.

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.