Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Buys Shares of 37,067 Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,611,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $484,210,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,714 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,616,000 after acquiring an additional 973,843 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,286.4% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 862,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,284,000 after acquiring an additional 849,358 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $311.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -311.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $248.09 and a twelve month high of $344.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $319.12 and a 200-day moving average of $319.19. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.27 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 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 revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -736.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.55.

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.