First Manhattan CO. LLC. Reduces Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in AON were worth $10,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in AON by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AON by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in AON by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AON by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in AON by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $354.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $377.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $375.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $275.07 and a 52 week high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AON to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.67.

AON Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.