Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 9,440 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 58.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,440 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $7,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.7% in the third quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in AON by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AON by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 5.1% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of AON by 2.3% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Up 1.2 %

AON opened at $333.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.66. The stock has a market cap of $66.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $312.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.61. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $284.85 and a 52 week high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS 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 the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total value of $6,420,445.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,128. 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. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AON. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $351.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut AON from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $328.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $336.36.

About AON

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.