Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,690 Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Steel Canyon Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Steel Canyon Capital LLC now owns 16,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,929,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.3% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.6% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 8,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.6% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Roth Mkm increased 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $298.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

WTW stock opened at $259.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.81. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $195.29 and a one year 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.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value 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 approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.