Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 78,693 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,936 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $24,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 144.5% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 41,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at $264,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth $42,964,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTW. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $320.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $317.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.61. 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 $334.99. The company has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -320.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -352.00%.

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.