Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Howard Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 176,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,580,000 after purchasing an additional 21,960 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTW. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.42.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $317.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 217.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52 week low of $292.97 and a 52 week high of $352.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $334.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.52.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently 252.05%.

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

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.