New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 336,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,904 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in AON were worth $97,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in AON by 410.9% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after buying an additional 526,353 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in AON by 61.5% in the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,387,000 after purchasing an additional 229,500 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in AON by 5,151.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,742,000 after purchasing an additional 223,114 shares during the period. James Hambro & Partners acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,035,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of AON by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $313.07. 153,264 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 982,618. The company has a market cap of $62.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $317.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.64. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $284.85 and a 52-week high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by ($0.18). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.82 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.69.

About AON

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.