Allstate Corp Takes Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,008,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $993,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTW has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Finally, Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $337.16 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -337.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $328.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $313.67. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -368.00%.

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.