JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Holdings in Aon plc $AON

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,192,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 152,881 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in AON were worth $1,126,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Palladiem LLC purchased a new position in AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Syon Capital LLC boosted its position in AON by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 4,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of AON by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,252,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,323,850,000 after purchasing an additional 176,207 shares in the last quarter. Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,000. Finally, PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,421,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.81.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $331.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.71. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $381.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $321.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. AON’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.36%.

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.