Prana Capital Management LP Decreases Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Prana Capital Management LP cut its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 131,771 shares during the period. AON accounts for 2.2% of Prana Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Prana Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.06% of AON worth $47,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 46,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,651,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,869,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $1,147,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $2,560,000. Finally, Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $14,366,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $384.00 to $378.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.75.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON opened at $352.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. 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 fifty-two week low of $275.07 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $374.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $375.22.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.38%.

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.