Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW Shares Acquired by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 654,012 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,188 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $214,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 690,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 945.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 57,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,941,000 after purchasing an additional 52,125 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,646,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 179,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,102,000 after purchasing an additional 12,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 23,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $263.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.43. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 12-month low of $240.61 and a 12-month high of $352.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.48.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 16.84%.The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $347.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $384.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $409.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.73.

Insider Activity

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Lucy Clarke bought 1,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $263.37 per share, with a total value of $499,349.52. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 22,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,982,976.29. The trade was a 9.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.