Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Short Interest Update

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a decrease of 19.1% from the December 31st total of 1,410,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 664,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $329.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $316.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.34. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $242.54 and a 52-week high of $334.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.20 billion, a PE ratio of -45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -48.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.4% in the third quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,625,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 71.7% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 104,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,753,000 after acquiring an additional 23,001 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WTW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.64.

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.