Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Holdings Raised by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,474 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,422 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.09% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $27,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,682,939 shares of the company's stock worth $1,153,644,000 after buying an additional 1,266,484 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,228,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,055,000 after buying an additional 285,497 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,836,748 shares of the company's stock worth $575,343,000 after purchasing an additional 55,542 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth $484,210,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6,676.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 988,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $309,616,000 after purchasing an additional 973,843 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 74,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTW traded down $5.34 on Friday, reaching $301.72. 875,011 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 574,203. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of -300.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $326.86 and a 200 day moving average of $317.32. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $245.04 and a fifty-two week high of $344.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.27 by ($0.14). Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio is currently -368.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $387.00 price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $371.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.38.

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.