Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 85,879 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 54.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 85,879 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $28,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi grew its stake in shares of AON by 11.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 831,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,001,000 after purchasing an additional 88,212 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the first quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of AON by 85.7% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 170,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,232,000 after purchasing an additional 78,900 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its stake in shares of AON by 3.8% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 67,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,100,000 after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AON by 60.5% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AON Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $372.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $362.22 and its 200-day moving average is $369.56. The stock has a market cap of $80.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.87. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $323.73 and a twelve month high of $412.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.16 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AON shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $438.00 price objective (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $408.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AON from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $412.69.

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.