Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in AON were worth $1,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 50,290 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 106,777.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $845,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,814,643 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of AON by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of AON by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,223,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $667,355,000 after acquiring an additional 620,067 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,094,000 after acquiring an additional 55,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $305.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $317.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.18. The company has a market cap of $60.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $284.85 and a 12-month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.71%.

Insider Activity

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AON. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on AON from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen began coverage on AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on AON from $304.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $335.36.

AON Company 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.