Causeway Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,484 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,055,000 after purchasing an additional 285,497 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at about $484,210,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,616,000 after buying an additional 973,843 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 604,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,412,000 after buying an additional 12,162 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $321.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.08 billion, a PE ratio of -321.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.87. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WTW shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $387.00 price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.38.

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.