Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 66,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $21,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 179,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,102,000 after buying an additional 12,575 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.4% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 23,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,277,000 after buying an additional 4,859 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 196,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,996,000 after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.0% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 679,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,738,000 after buying an additional 19,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 184.1% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,632,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,740,000 after buying an additional 2,353,768 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of WTW opened at $258.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.45. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 1 year low of $240.61 and a 1 year high of $352.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a current ratio of 2.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $279.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $304.44.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $3.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.07. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Lucy Clarke bought 1,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $263.37 per share, for a total transaction of $499,349.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 22,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,982,976.29. This represents a 9.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WTW. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $347.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $384.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $341.00 to $322.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.73.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company’s core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.