California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 30,303 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 451,373 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,303 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $141,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

WTW opened at $337.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -337.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $328.33 and its 200-day moving average is $313.67. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 52-week low of $245.04 and a 52-week high of $344.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -368.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.