Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 240,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,386 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $73,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the second 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 period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,579,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,096,994,000 after buying an additional 62,570 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $790,908,000 after acquiring an additional 19,384 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,057,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,428,000 after acquiring an additional 69,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WTW shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $341.00 to $303.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $408.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $356.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.62.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $321.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $30.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 220.02, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $330.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.39. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a twelve month low of $292.97 and a twelve month high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 share repurchase program on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.