Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,902 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 86.6% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 29,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,112,000 after acquiring an additional 13,500 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 31,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,789,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $339.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $320.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.97. The company has a market cap of $34.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -339.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a twelve month low of $245.04 and a twelve month high of $339.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total transaction of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTW shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $342.08.

Willis Towers Watson Public 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.