Cidel Asset Management Inc. Takes $42.96 Million Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 137,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,964,000. Willis Towers Watson Public comprises 2.9% of Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 8.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $895,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WTW shares. Barclays raised their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $338.69.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $325.79 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1 year low of $245.04 and a 1 year high of $334.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $317.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -352.00%.

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.