DAVENPORT & Co LLC Sells 2,532 Shares of Aon plc $AON

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,532 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $95,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new position in AON during the 4th quarter valued at $4,305,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the third quarter worth $1,292,000. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 220.7% during the third quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,163,000 after purchasing an additional 8,034 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter worth about $1,752,000. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its stake in AON by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,053,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,299,000 after buying an additional 332,685 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AON Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE AON opened at $326.83 on Wednesday. Aon plc has a one year low of $304.59 and a one year high of $402.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $70.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $330.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $343.95.

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

AON Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AON shares. Bank of America raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, March 16th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $436.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AON from $433.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

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.