River Road Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 261,499 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,945 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $63,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Covington Capital Management bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.54.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW stock traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $259.27. The stock had a trading volume of 518,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 455,313. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.73. 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 company has a market cap of $26.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52-week low of $195.29 and a 52-week high of $278.86.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 15.70% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently 35.13%.

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.