Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 12,702 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 440,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,702 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $121,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in AON by 11,179.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,026,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,313,000 after buying an additional 3,990,441 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of AON by 419.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 836,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,638,000 after acquiring an additional 675,919 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 74.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 797,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 340,866 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 136.1% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 547,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,835,000 after acquiring an additional 315,817 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AON by 10,298.7% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 290,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,470,000 after acquiring an additional 287,951 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lester Knight purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $327.48 per share, for a total transaction of $6,549,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 163,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,379,240. This trade represents a 13.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Key AON News

Here are the key news stories impacting AON this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Aon to “Market Perform” from “Underperform,” removing a prior bearish stance and signaling that the stock’s risk/reward profile has improved. Raymond James upgrades Aon to market perform from underperform
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $364 from $323 and assigned an “Overweight” rating, while Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its target to $410 from $400 and maintained an “Overweight” rating. These calls imply meaningful upside and support investor confidence in Aon’s earnings and valuation. Wells Fargo analyst recommendation Cantor Fitzgerald analyst recommendation
• Positive Sentiment: Aon highlighted data centers and managing general agents (MGAs) as growth opportunities. These areas could expand demand for specialty insurance and risk-management services, providing potential longer-term revenue growth. Aon’s Hofmann: Data centers and MGAs offer new avenues for growth
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS lowered its price target to $356 from $387 and kept a “Neutral” rating. Although the revised target remains above the recent trading level, the cut indicates more limited upside in UBS’s view. UBS Group analyst recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Aon’s quarterly dividend reached its record date at $0.820 per share, reinforcing the company’s shareholder-return profile, though the payment is unlikely to materially change near-term earnings expectations. Aon quarterly dividend record date
• Negative Sentiment: European windstorms Austen and Boelo are expected to produce hundreds of millions of dollars in insured losses. While this is primarily an industry event rather than a direct loss for Aon, elevated catastrophe activity could pressure insurance-market capacity and sentiment. European windstorms insured losses

AON Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE AON opened at $333.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 4.72. Aon plc has a one year low of $266.33 and a one year high of $382.34. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $301.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $326.03.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.06. AON had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 40.46%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 18.55 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 17.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of AON from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AON from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Roth Capital set a $380.00 price target on shares of AON and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Wolfe Research cut shares of AON from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on AON from $366.00 to $324.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $368.53.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, make informed decisions and improve workforce outcomes. Its services span commercial risk, health, retirement and investments, and data and analytics.

The company provides insurance brokerage and risk-management services, including coverage placement, claims support, risk transfer and consulting. Through its reinsurance business, Aon also serves insurers and other organizations seeking to manage catastrophe, capital and underwriting risks.

Aon’s human capital offerings include employee benefits consulting, retirement advisory services, talent and compensation consulting, and health and workforce solutions.