Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 172 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter worth $195,043,000. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 185.1% in the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 366,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,872,000 after purchasing an additional 237,953 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter worth $60,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,618.7% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 126,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,846,000 after buying an additional 124,894 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 85.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 169,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,309,000 after buying an additional 78,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.83.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

WTW opened at $314.00 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52-week low of $292.97 and a 52-week high of $352.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 215.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $333.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.27.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.52%.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.