Boston Common Asset Management LLC Has $12.56 Million Stake in Aon plc $AON

Boston Common Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,782 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $12,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AON. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,305,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter worth $1,292,000. Callan Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 220.7% in the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,163,000 after buying an additional 8,034 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,752,000. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its stake in AON by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,053,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,299,000 after buying an additional 332,685 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $397.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 target price on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of AON from $433.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 143,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. This represents a 19.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AON Stock Up 3.2%

AON stock opened at $323.77 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $328.83 and a 200-day moving average of $342.62. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $401.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.