Aon plc $AON Shares Sold by Barings LLC

Barings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 34.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,829 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $14,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AON by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,171,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,117,960,000 after buying an additional 191,658 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of AON by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,252,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,323,850,000 after acquiring an additional 176,207 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of AON by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,229,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,291,048,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of AON by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,852,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,770,975,000 after acquiring an additional 4,387,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,141,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,810,726,000 after purchasing an additional 28,066 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $368.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $78.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $331.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.94. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $304.59 and a 12 month high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.67 EPS. Analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.09 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AON shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on AON from $389.00 to $426.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of AON from $409.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of AON from $404.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AON from $372.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of AON from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $377.00 in a report on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.56.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 15,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,527,440. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AON Company 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.