Aon plc $AON Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,262 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in AON were worth $595,000 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. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AON by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 70 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in AON in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in AON during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on AON from $393.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $397.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 143,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,651,320. This trade represents a 2.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 20,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,598,550.66. The trade was a 19.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $333.08 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $337.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $347.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $407.07.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.10. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.51%.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.