Numerai GP LLC Buys 559 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Numerai GP LLC increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 71.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,341 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Numerai GP LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at $484,210,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during 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 holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 77.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,217,714 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 valued at $309,616,000 after buying an additional 973,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,286.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 862,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,284,000 after acquiring an additional 849,358 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WTW shares. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $371.00 to $366.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $310.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $319.41 and a 200 day moving average of $318.87. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a PE ratio of -310.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.27 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend 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 payout ratio is presently -736.00%.

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.