Hantz Financial Services Inc. Increases Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 15.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,062 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $3,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 76.4% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 33.9% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter worth about $328,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 176,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,580,000 after purchasing an additional 21,960 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.83.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $313.10 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a fifty-two week low of $292.97 and a fifty-two week high of $352.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 214.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $334.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.41.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.02. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 252.05%.

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.