Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 4.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,032 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $5,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at $330,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth $69,000. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth $2,783,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WTW. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $304.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $288.08 on Thursday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12-month low of $201.41 and a 12-month high of $296.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.77.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 16.97%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.51 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.31%.

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.