Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Short Interest Down 23.3% in July

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 851,300 shares, a drop of 23.3% from the June 30th total of 1,110,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 439,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $317.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $272.00 to $304.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $299.36.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW traded up $5.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $283.09. 713,853 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 369,582. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $259.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.86. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $195.29 and a one year high of $283.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $28.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 11.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,568,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,062,000 after buying an additional 158,234 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,123,000 after buying an additional 261,562 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4,811.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,472,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,217,000 after buying an additional 1,442,722 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $300,782,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 659,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,177,000 after purchasing an additional 23,805 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.