California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,077,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,780 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AON were worth $313,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 267,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,990,000 after buying an additional 51,838 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC now owns 876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,799,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 35,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 5,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 over the last ninety days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AON Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE AON traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $311.26. 56,738 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 981,290. The company has a market cap of $61.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $284.85 and a 12-month high of $347.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $317.79 and a 200 day moving average of $314.64.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.71%.

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.