Scharf Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Scharf Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,416 shares during the period. AON accounts for 2.5% of Scharf Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC owned 0.11% of AON worth $84,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter valued at $336,375,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 150.4% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 96,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,326,000 after buying an additional 57,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in AON by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,059,977,000 after acquiring an additional 32,417 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in AON by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 165,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,345,000 after acquiring an additional 20,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter valued at about $759,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AON

In related news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. The trade was a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $371.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $366.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 2.05. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $395.33.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 107.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s payout ratio is presently 22.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.