Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 7,561,114 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 95,880.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,561,114 shares during the quarter. Willis Towers Watson Public makes up about 5.8% of Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Mizuho Securities USA LLC owned 7.51% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $2,229,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Graypoint LLC grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $295.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $278.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $334.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.27.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $312.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $31.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $234.01 and a 1-year high of $320.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $296.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.90.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.66 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -48.35%.

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.