FJ Capital Management LLC Has $2.77 Million Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

FJ Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,570 shares during the quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $2,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $484,210,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,788,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,483,000 after buying an additional 1,217,714 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 33,979.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,580,000 after acquiring an additional 457,025 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.1 %

WTW stock opened at $309.37 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52 week low of $248.09 and a 52 week high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.34. The company has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a PE ratio of -309.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. 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. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -736.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $351.55.

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.