Blue Trust Inc. Trims Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AON by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in AON by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 168,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,349,000 after acquiring an additional 14,292 shares during the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its stake in AON by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 5,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays began coverage on AON in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AON from $312.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $347.06.

AON Stock Performance

AON opened at $358.29 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $347.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.00. The stock has a market cap of $77.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.42. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $363.46.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. AON’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

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.