Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Makes New Investment in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WTW. 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. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $342.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $326.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $32.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -326.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $323.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.88. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently -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.