Stifel Financial Corp Sells 4,185 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,185 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of AON worth $53,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its holdings in shares of AON by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 122,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,122,000 after purchasing an additional 16,399 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in AON by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,449,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AON by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 56,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,433,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in AON by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 9,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,291,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price objective on AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on AON from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $393.87.

AON Trading Up 3.5 %

AON stock opened at $368.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $388.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $375.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

AON Profile

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.