American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 692,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,179 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $239,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.8% in the second quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 779 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,853,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $351.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $392.00 to $358.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $303.00 to $318.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.50.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $305.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $317.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.34. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a twelve month low of $275.60 and a twelve month high of $352.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $8.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 16.53%.Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.47%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company’s core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.