EP Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,456 shares of the company’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $1,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth about $484,210,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% in the fourth 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, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,580,000 after acquiring an additional 457,025 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on WTW shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $351.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.0 %

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $309.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $321.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $318.46. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a PE ratio of -309.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $248.09 and a 1-year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -736.00%.

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.