Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 3,300 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $10,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 55.5% in the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 32,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,961,000 after buying an additional 11,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WTW shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $341.00 to $303.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $356.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $382.00 to $373.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.62.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.1%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $315.05 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $330.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 215.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.69. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.52%.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.