Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Stock Holdings Trimmed by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 261,499 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,945 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $63,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Covington Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WTW shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW traded up $2.08 on Wednesday, reaching $259.27. The company had a trading volume of 518,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 455,313. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $195.29 and a twelve month high of $278.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $271.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.39. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 15.70% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is 35.13%.

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.