Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY Reduces Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY cut its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY’s holdings in AON were worth $3,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AON by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 134.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AON by 16.1% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,264,000 after buying an additional 3,948 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of AON by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in AON by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AON shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AON from $340.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $361.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AON from $331.00 to $339.00 in a report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on AON from $365.00 to $380.00 in a report on Sunday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $344.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Byron Spruell acquired 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $324.57 per share, for a total transaction of $259,656.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,604.57. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AON Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE AON opened at $331.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.66. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $280.89 and a 12-month high of $347.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $327.21.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. AON had a net margin of 20.74% and a negative return on equity of 1,685.76%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 1st were paid a $0.615 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 31st. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AON’s payout ratio is 18.71%.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides advice and solutions to clients focused on risk, retirement, and health 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.