Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 737,464 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.73% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $193,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at about $330,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays began coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $278.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW stock opened at $288.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52-week low of $203.36 and a 52-week high of $296.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.27. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 11.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.51 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.