Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,597 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $22,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AON. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.69.

AON Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $283.81 on Thursday. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $347.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $312.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.97. The stock has a market cap of $61.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. AON’s payout ratio is 21.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total value of $6,420,445.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last 90 days. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.