Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates decreased its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 168,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,222 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.08% of AON worth $49,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the first quarter worth $31,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE AON opened at $333.79 on Thursday. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $284.85 and a 12 month high of $347.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.66, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $66.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $312.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $316.61.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.615 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of AON from $304.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of AON from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $328.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $336.36.

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.