Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in AON were worth $8,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in AON by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 36,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,006 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 25.1% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of AON by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,021,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,542,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in AON by 5,232.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 208,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,071,000 after buying an additional 204,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AON news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,121.44. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,291.36. This represents a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $365.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $368.88 and a 200 day moving average of $348.64. The company has a market capitalization of $79.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.93. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $395.33.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AON. Bank of America raised their price target on AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $377.00 to $410.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $370.87.

AON Company Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.