Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 49.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,305 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,229,298,000 after acquiring an additional 7,561,114 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,718,000 after buying an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,619,000 after buying an additional 128,558 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 277.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 844,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,706,000 after buying an additional 620,926 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $324.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -324.61, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $344.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.45.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.