Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 86.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,088 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $9,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 120.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 31,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,789,000 after acquiring an additional 11,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 5,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTW opened at $325.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -325.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.74. 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 50-day moving average of $318.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.16. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $334.99.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -352.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.