Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Cuts Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lessened its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 98.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,887 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176,230 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.55.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW stock opened at $307.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $323.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.29. The firm has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -307.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $248.09 and a 1-year high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -736.00%.

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.