Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the December 31st total of 1,410,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 664,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,298,000 after acquiring an additional 7,561,114 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,718,000 after purchasing an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,698,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,619,000 after buying an additional 128,558 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.1 %

WTW stock opened at $329.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.27, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.05. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52 week low of $242.54 and a 52 week high of $334.99.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -48.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.64.

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.