Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Stake Raised by Harbour Capital Advisors LLC

Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 45.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,175 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at $484,210,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,217,714 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 40,489.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,007,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,461,000 after buying an additional 1,004,947 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,616,000 after buying an additional 973,843 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $303.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.46. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52 week low of $255.19 and a 52 week high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a market cap of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of -607.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.54% and a positive return on equity of 20.53%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -736.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,600 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.75, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,783,316.50. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on 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. Finally, UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $356.30.

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.