Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 8,841 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 496,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,841 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $165,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in AON by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,524,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,519,000 after buying an additional 22,346 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in AON by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AON by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,472,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,280,000 after acquiring an additional 182,688 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $423,030,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in AON by 0.5% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America downgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $311.00 price objective on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.71.

AON Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AON stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $294.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 234,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,167. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.91. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $344.68.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.16%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.