Ritholtz Wealth Management Trims Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Ritholtz Wealth Management reduced its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 44.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,662 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in AON were worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AON by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 3,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AON by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in AON by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 12,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Finally, Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of AON stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $351.00 to $321.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AON from $304.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of AON from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $328.00 price target on the stock. 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $336.36.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE:AON opened at $333.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $284.85 and a 1 year high of $347.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $312.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.66.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.78 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.74%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.71%.

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.