Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Sells 3,596 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp reduced its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,596 shares during the quarter. AON comprises 3.3% of Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp owned about 0.08% of AON worth $48,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,452,390,000 after acquiring an additional 50,290 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in AON by 106,777.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $845,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814,643 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in AON by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in AON by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in AON by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,223,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $667,355,000 after purchasing an additional 620,067 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total value of $12,582,979.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last 90 days. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AON Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AON traded up $3.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $308.70. The company had a trading volume of 628,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,541. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $317.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.96. Aon plc has a one year low of $284.85 and a one year high of $347.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 19.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $335.36.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.