Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 665 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,457 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $3,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 281.5% in the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 67.1% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 43,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,553,000 after buying an additional 17,565 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Fonville Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.54.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ WTW opened at $256.92 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12 month low of $195.29 and a 12 month high of $278.86. The stock has a market cap of $26.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $270.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.07. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 15.70% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.13%.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.