Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 248,652 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,817 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $77,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,561,114 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 277.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 844,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,706,000 after purchasing an additional 620,926 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 47,515.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 499,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,255,000 after buying an additional 498,915 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,883,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter worth about $39,999,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $325.79 on Monday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $334.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $317.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $32.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -325.79, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is -352.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $338.69.

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.