Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 70.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 161,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 383,404 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in AON were worth $58,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AON by 1,162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AON

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

AON Stock Down 0.4 %

AON stock opened at $361.24 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $369.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.91. The stock has a market cap of $78.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.93. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $395.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 2.05.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s payout ratio is 22.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AON from $415.00 to $411.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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 raised shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $370.87.

About AON

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.