Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Dudley & Shanley Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,650 shares during the quarter. AON comprises approximately 5.7% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Dudley & Shanley Inc. owned 0.05% of AON worth $33,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AON. Cubic Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AON during the 4th quarter worth about $1,050,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AON by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,058,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in AON by 262.7% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in AON by 177.4% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,372,000 after purchasing an additional 11,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in AON by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 331,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,549,000 after purchasing an additional 4,843 shares in 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 B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America cut AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $311.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.71.

AON Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AON traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $294.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 840,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,303,941. The firm has a market cap of $64.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.91. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $344.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $288.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.09.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. AON’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

AON Profile

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.