Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lessened its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 26.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in AON were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,030,000. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in AON during the 1st quarter worth $258,471,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the 1st quarter worth $210,911,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in AON by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,943,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $648,663,000 after purchasing an additional 471,424 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in AON by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 984,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,864,000 after purchasing an additional 343,635 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AON from $312.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $330.21.

AON Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AON traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $330.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,649,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,289,751. The company’s 50 day moving average is $296.73 and its 200-day moving average is $303.60. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $344.68. The company has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 4.13 and a current ratio of 2.42.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.31 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other AON news, insider Andy Weitz 8,454 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.