Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 6,300 Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $12,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 179,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,102,000 after buying an additional 12,575 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 23,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,277,000 after buying an additional 4,859 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 196,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,996,000 after buying an additional 3,454 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 679,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,738,000 after buying an additional 19,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 512.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,757,000 after buying an additional 36,738 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WTW shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $341.00 to $322.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Willis Towers Watson Public from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $388.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.00.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $260.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.92 and a current ratio of 2.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $291.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.45. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52 week low of $246.60 and a 52 week high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.07. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 16.84%.The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 19.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.39%.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company’s core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.