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

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 281,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in AON were worth $101,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AON. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at $20,856,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in AON by 4.4% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AON by 66.9% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in AON by 9.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at $43,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $386.21.

AON Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $394.85 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $367.38 and its 200 day moving average is $360.88. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $395.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $85.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. AON’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,121.44. This 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.

About AON

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.