Norges Bank Purchases New Shares in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company $WTW

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,555,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,151,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 16.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 38.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 14,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WTW. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $379.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $341.00 to $322.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $347.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lucy Clarke purchased 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $263.37 per share, with a total value of $499,349.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 22,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,982,976.29. The trade was a 9.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $249.67 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.43. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company has a 52-week low of $240.61 and a 52-week high of $352.79.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 16.84%.The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently 22.39%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Profile

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.