Prudential PLC Has $6.16 Million Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Prudential PLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 48.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,671 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,387 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 106.9% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,256,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 20,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,399,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,077,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth about $12,508,000. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WTW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 7.1 %

WTW stock opened at $308.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -308.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $329.30 and a 200-day moving average of $314.72. 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 fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.