Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Shares Acquired by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 58.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,898 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,624 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $6,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,203,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,942,000. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,677,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.6 %

WTW opened at $264.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.73. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $195.29 and a 1-year high of $278.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $271.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.59.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $7.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.39. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is 35.13%.

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.