Short Interest in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Drops By 35.7%

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,514,813 shares, a decline of 35.7% from the December 31st total of 3,909,211 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 463,628 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 463,628 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,372,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,928,792,000 after acquiring an additional 103,784 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 184.1% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,632,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353,768 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% during 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 buying an additional 62,570 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,591,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,908,000 after buying an additional 19,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WTW. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $408.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $386.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $383.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $356.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $356.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $317.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $292.97 and a 1 year high of $352.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $326.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 21.58% and a return on equity of 21.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is 17.52%.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company’s core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.