Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 5,727 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,058,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.53% of AON worth $307,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in AON by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp increased its holdings in AON by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 5,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in AON by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction 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 $49,991,685.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AON news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of AON 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $49,991,685.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,448,790. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 in the last ninety days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.69.

AON Trading Down 0.8 %

AON stock traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $285.98. 576,779 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,128,380. Aon plc has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $347.37. The company has a market cap of $62.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $312.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

About AON

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.