Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,013 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $9,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in AON by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,237,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,563,000 after buying an additional 31,021 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of AON by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,676,000 after acquiring an additional 20,942 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of AON by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in AON by 43,000.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,404,000 after purchasing an additional 390,017 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in AON by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 32,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $390.70 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $383.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $369.93. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The stock has a market cap of $84.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AON. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

AON 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.