EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 301 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,262 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 68,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,554,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth approximately $353,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 36,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 53.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 45,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on WTW shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $321.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of 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. Barclays started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $278.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.60.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW stock opened at $290.59 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52 week low of $203.36 and a 52 week high of $303.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.86. The firm has a market cap of $29.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.