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

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 451,373 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 30,303 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.45% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $141,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.4% during the fourth 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. boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 10.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded down $14.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $317.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 325,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 543,920. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a one year low of $245.04 and a one year high of $344.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $329.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $31.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -318.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.44 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is -368.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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 stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.15.

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.