Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Aon plc $AON

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,429 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in AON were worth $4,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in AON by 229.2% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 50,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,740,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AON by 128.3% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 156,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,139,000 after buying an additional 87,799 shares during the last quarter. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $74,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in AON by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lifted its position in AON by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.81.

AON Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AON opened at $315.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.71. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $381.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $333.40.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.67 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 16.36%.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.