Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW Shares Sold by Baupost Group LLC MA

Baupost Group LLC MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,314,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211,483 shares during the quarter. Willis Towers Watson Public accounts for approximately 9.8% of Baupost Group LLC MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Baupost Group LLC MA owned about 1.35% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $402,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,238,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,041,000 after purchasing an additional 146,104 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,579,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,096,994,000 after purchasing an additional 62,570 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,856,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,334,000 after buying an additional 67,898 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,591,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,908,000 after purchasing an additional 19,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,279,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,642,000 after buying an additional 103,695 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $382.00 to $373.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.67.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.2%

WTW opened at $320.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $327.35 and its 200-day moving average is $320.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.63. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52-week low of $292.97 and a 52-week high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.46% and a net margin of 21.58%.The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.52%.

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.