Versant Capital Management Inc Sells 107 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Versant Capital Management Inc lessened its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 36.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AON were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AON. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of AON in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AON from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $311.00 price target on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $330.21.

AON Stock Down 0.5 %

AON stock traded down $1.62 on Tuesday, hitting $323.40. 1,249,207 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,303,662. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 4.13 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $297.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.73. The stock has a market cap of $70.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $344.68.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andy Weitz 8,454 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

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.