National Pension Service Cuts Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

National Pension Service cut its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 335,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,307 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in AON were worth $120,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $336,375,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in AON by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in AON by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,059,977,000 after acquiring an additional 32,417 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in AON by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 165,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,345,000 after acquiring an additional 20,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retireful LLC bought a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $759,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $398.74 on Thursday. Aon plc has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $400.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $86.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $370.87 and its 200 day moving average is $363.26.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AON. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

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.