Legal & General Group Plc Grows Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 679,513 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,515 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $234,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in 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 valued at $1,912,041,000 after purchasing an additional 146,104 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,579,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,096,994,000 after purchasing an additional 62,570 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,279,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,642,000 after purchasing an additional 103,695 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $365.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $318.00 to $341.00 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $398.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $351.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $286.63 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52 week low of $275.60 and a 52 week high of $352.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $311.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $323.10. The company has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $8.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 16.53%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.13 EPS. Research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.47%.

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.