Cibc World Markets Corp Sells 3,812 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Cibc World Markets Corp cut its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,812 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $4,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $5,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 28.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 104,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,753,000 after acquiring an additional 23,001 shares during the last quarter. Atom Investors LP boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 64.0% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 205.6% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 4,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other 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 transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $334.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -334.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $325.30 and its 200 day moving average is $311.32. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12-month low of $245.04 and a 12-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.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. The business 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%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.92 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio 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.