Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Increases Stock Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 249 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 72.4% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,555,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,072,000 after purchasing an additional 653,300 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,410,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,477,000 after acquiring an additional 445,775 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 201.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 605,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,529,000 after acquiring an additional 404,530 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1,532.2% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 424,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,638,000 after acquiring an additional 398,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 53.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,117,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,449,000 after acquiring an additional 389,596 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTW. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $297.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 2.3 %

WTW stock opened at $250.95 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $269.96 and its 200 day moving average is $251.10. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $195.29 and a one year high of $278.86. The firm has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.25 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a $0.88 dividend. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.31%.

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.