KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $10.97 Million Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 34,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,973,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 274,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,901,000 after purchasing an additional 44,429 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,990,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 45,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.15.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 1.4 %

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $337.22 on Tuesday. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 12-month low of $245.04 and a 12-month high of $344.14. 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 capitalization of $33.62 billion, a PE ratio of -337.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $326.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.33.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.01 by $0.12. 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 $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.