California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Aon plc $AON

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 21.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 475,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 132,271 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AON were worth $153,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 126.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,852,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,770,975,000 after buying an additional 4,387,773 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at $1,155,981,000. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at about $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in AON by 40,219.8% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,922,000 after acquiring an additional 844,615 shares during the period. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in AON during the 4th quarter worth about $229,372,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $366.69 on Friday. Aon plc has a one year low of $304.59 and a one year high of $381.00. The firm has a market cap of $78.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $332.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.19.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 15,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,527,440. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Piper Sandler lowered shares of AON from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $355.00 to $377.00 in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $372.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AON from $396.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.56.

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.