Scharf Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Scharf Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 236,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,416 shares during the quarter. AON comprises 2.5% of Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $84,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 1,162.5% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,291.36. The trade was a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total transaction of $256,321.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $370.87.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $371.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 2.05. Aon plc has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $395.33. The company has a market cap of $80.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $366.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.21.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 107.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.78%.

AON Profile

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.