Norges Bank Takes Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,545,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,210,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after buying an additional 19,623 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,718,000 after acquiring an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 277.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 844,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,706,000 after acquiring an additional 620,926 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 604,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,412,000 after purchasing an additional 12,162 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 47,515.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 499,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,255,000 after purchasing an additional 498,915 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $337.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $313.33. The firm has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of -337.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. 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 Limited has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 20.02% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -368.00%.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,996.09. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTW. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.15.

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.