Aon plc $AON Holdings Reduced by Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 75.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 134,405 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $15,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AON. Norges Bank bought a new position in AON in the 2nd quarter valued at about $754,671,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AON by 2.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,289,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,569,000 after acquiring an additional 511,292 shares during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in AON by 193.2% in the second quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 692,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,104,000 after purchasing an additional 456,399 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AON by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 889,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,118,000 after buying an additional 428,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at about $142,986,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 4,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $319.24 per share, with a total value of $1,276,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 143,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 20,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,598,550.66. This represents a 19.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AON. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $448.00 to $443.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $436.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.94.

AON Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $333.08 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.72. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $407.07. The stock has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 17.51%.

AON 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.