Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,043,000. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 185.1% in the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 366,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,872,000 after purchasing an additional 237,953 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,618.7% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 126,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,846,000 after purchasing an additional 124,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 85.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 169,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,309,000 after purchasing an additional 78,342 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTW. Wolfe Research raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $366.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $336.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 230.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $334.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $318.61. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a fifty-two week low of $287.05 and a fifty-two week high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is 252.05%.

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.