Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 168,496 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,269,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 168,496 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $3,454,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 38.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth $90,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $382.00 to $373.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.62.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.8%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $314.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a PE ratio of 215.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $331.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.02. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a one year low of $292.97 and a one year high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.52%.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.