Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $3,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTW. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $1,203,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $2,942,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $18,677,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $29,367,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.8 %

WTW stock opened at $259.27 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $271.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.81. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $195.29 and a fifty-two week high of $278.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $26.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.39. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.33 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently 35.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $307.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.