Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,290,000 shares, a decrease of 10.4% from the November 30th total of 4,790,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 196.7% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,875,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $550,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,200 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AON during the third quarter worth about $336,375,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in AON by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,623,000 after buying an additional 883,761 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AON by 334.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,050,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,475,000 after buying an additional 808,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stone Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $151,808,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE AON traded up $1.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $359.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 522,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,154,647. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $372.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.92. AON has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $395.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised AON from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $362.06.

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.