Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Wrapmanager Inc.

Wrapmanager Inc. trimmed its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,452,390,000 after purchasing an additional 50,290 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after acquiring an additional 179,238 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in AON by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $727,844,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in AON by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,094,000 after purchasing an additional 55,703 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of AON by 0.5% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,311,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,219,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at $38,448,790. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,175,613.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,448,790. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.69.

AON Stock Up 1.3 %

AON stock traded up $3.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $287.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,354,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,943. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $312.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

AON Profile

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.