Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Short Interest Down 23.3% in July

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 851,300 shares, a drop of 23.3% from the June 30th total of 1,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 439,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,568,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,062,000 after purchasing an additional 158,234 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,123,000 after buying an additional 261,562 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4,811.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,472,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,217,000 after buying an additional 1,442,722 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $300,782,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 659,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,177,000 after buying an additional 23,805 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW stock traded up $5.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $283.09. The stock had a trading volume of 713,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,582. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $195.29 and a twelve month high of $283.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $259.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.86.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.27. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $317.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $299.36.

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.