Aon plc $AON Shares Sold by Nicholas Company Inc.

Nicholas Company Inc. lessened its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 181,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,360 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $64,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AON in the first quarter valued at $256,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 4.4% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 2.0% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 45.7% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 425.3% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE AON opened at $340.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.89. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $323.73 and a 52-week high of $412.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $356.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $358.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.14. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AON from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of AON to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 price target (up from $401.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $420.00.

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.