Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 7,216 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 155,129 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,216 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $48,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter worth about $262,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 16,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,883,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 71.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 8.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 11,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,513,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,136,245.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $324.61 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $323.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.60. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52 week low of $245.04 and a 52 week high of $344.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $32.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -324.61, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $342.08.

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.