Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 744,118 shares of the company’s stock after selling 97,157 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $233,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WTW opened at $332.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.17 billion, a PE ratio of -332.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $326.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.90.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.