720 Shares in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Acquired by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.4% in the third quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,625,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 71.7% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 28.3% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 104,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,753,000 after purchasing an additional 23,001 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 64.0% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WTW shares. Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $335.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $320.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.53. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $339.12. The stock has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -335.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -368.00%.

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.