Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter worth approximately $229,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in AON by 392.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 4,812 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 1.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,599,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the third quarter worth about $788,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 55.2% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AON. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI raised shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $393.87.

AON Price Performance

NYSE AON opened at $375.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $412.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $390.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $374.56.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.33%.

About AON

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.