First Manhattan CO. LLC. Decreases Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in AON were worth $10,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in AON by 2,025.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AON shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.67.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $354.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $275.07 and a twelve month high of $412.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $377.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $375.42. The company has a market cap of $76.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

AON Company 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.