Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 330,230 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,337,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 330,230 shares during the quarter. AON makes up approximately 1.2% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $839,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of AON by 2,025.0% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.67.

AON Stock Down 0.8%

AON opened at $354.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $275.07 and a 12 month high of $412.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $377.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $375.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.38%.

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.