Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $219.73 Million Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 658,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 222,331 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in AON were worth $219,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AON. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth $423,030,000. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in AON during the first quarter worth $258,471,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AON by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,943,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $648,663,000 after purchasing an additional 471,424 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in AON by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 950,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,514,000 after buying an additional 290,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in AON by 401.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 344,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,097,000 after buying an additional 276,131 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 8.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AON traded up $24.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $323.00. 3,070,450 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,061,628. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $344.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.65. The firm has a market cap of $70.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.91.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by ($0.16). AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 21.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America lowered AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AON from $289.00 to $287.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.36.

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.