Park Avenue Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 392 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 718 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.1%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $342.20 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 1-year low of $286.35 and a 1-year high of $345.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 234.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.05.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is 252.05%.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.