Ossiam Sells 3,503 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Ossiam cut its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,503 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in AON were worth $14,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,524,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,519,000 after buying an additional 22,346 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,390,000 after buying an additional 50,290 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $678,406,000 after buying an additional 179,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $727,844,000 after buying an additional 18,500 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,094,000 after buying an additional 55,703 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AON shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $311.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock traded down $2.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $283.12. 889,312 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,411,956. The company has a market capitalization of $61.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.87. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

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.