Short Interest in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Grows By 5.9%

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the March 31st total of 1,850,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 947,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AON. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.69.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $283.55 on Thursday. AON has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $347.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $315.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.15. The company has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.17 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AON will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 21.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,690,098. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AON

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AON in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON during the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Company 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.