Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Stock Position Lessened by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 64.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,198 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AON. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at about $20,856,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in AON by 0.5% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at about $3,638,000. Trust Co. of Oklahoma boosted its stake in AON by 3.5% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dover Advisors LLC bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at about $234,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $384.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $365.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $358.04. The company has a market cap of $83.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $395.33.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total transaction of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,291.36. This trade represents a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price target on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.