ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 4.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,857 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $5,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $107,010,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 520.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 417,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,765,000 after buying an additional 350,135 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,123,000 after buying an additional 261,562 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,904,000 after buying an additional 185,126 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 161.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 190,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,032,000 after acquiring an additional 117,372 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $290.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $203.36 and a twelve month high of $296.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $283.55 and a 200 day moving average of $268.97.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is 35.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective 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. Barclays started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $278.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.73.

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.