Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WTW. Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 1.1 %

WTW opened at $337.16 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $328.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of -337.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -368.00%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Profile

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.