Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Cuts Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP cut its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,323 shares of the company’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 281.5% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WTW traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $264.48. The stock had a trading volume of 480,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,035. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $195.29 and a fifty-two week high of $278.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $27.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently 35.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.54.

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.