Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) is Baupost Group LLC MA’s 2nd Largest Position

Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,652,648 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,981 shares during the period. Willis Towers Watson Public accounts for 11.9% of Baupost Group LLC MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Baupost Group LLC MA owned 1.63% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $433,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $330,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter worth approximately $237,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,287,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $278.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $288.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $282.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $203.36 and a fifty-two week high of $296.45.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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.