River Road Asset Management LLC Has $98.77 Million Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 315,319 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,669 shares during the quarter. Willis Towers Watson Public makes up about 1.3% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $98,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.08.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $332.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -332.00, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $323.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $309.57. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.44 EPS. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

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.