Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,673 shares during the period. AON accounts for approximately 1.6% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $29,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AON by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,661,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,894,053,000 after buying an additional 64,500 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in AON by 2.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,552,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,183,000 after acquiring an additional 309,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in AON by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,524,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,519,000 after acquiring an additional 22,346 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 1.2% during the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,405,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,293,449,000 after purchasing an additional 52,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its position in shares of AON by 4.7% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,805,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $936,151,000 after purchasing an additional 127,173 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AON shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays started coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $337.27.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $346.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $353.54. The company has a market cap of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $329.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.20.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. AON’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.23 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. AON’s payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.