California Public Employees Retirement System Has $141.39 Million Stock Position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451,373 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,303 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.45% of Willis Towers Watson Public worth $141,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 18.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 42,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,463,000 after acquiring an additional 6,661 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,417 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,996.09. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $337.16 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $328.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.67. The firm has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of -337.16, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -368.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on 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. Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.15.

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.