Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW Position Trimmed by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lessened its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,004 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $1,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 1st quarter valued at about $195,043,000. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 185.1% in the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 366,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,872,000 after purchasing an additional 237,953 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at about $60,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,618.7% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 126,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,846,000 after purchasing an additional 124,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 85.9% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 169,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,309,000 after purchasing an additional 78,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WTW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $366.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.75.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

WTW opened at $349.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a PE ratio of 239.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $332.88 and a 200-day moving average of $318.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52-week low of $287.05 and a 52-week high of $352.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.21. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently 252.05%.

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.