Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Acquires New Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 35.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 124.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 2,737 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after buying an additional 2,596 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at approximately $406,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WTW. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday, September 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 1.8%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $343.76 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $33.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 235.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 1-year low of $287.05 and a 1-year high of $352.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 252.05%.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company 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.