Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Position Trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 80.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,995 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $2,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in AON by 2,025.0% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.75.

AON Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE AON opened at $355.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $375.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $375.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $275.07 and a twelve month high of $412.97. The stock has a market cap of $76.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.38%.

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.