Focus Partners Wealth Lowers Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Focus Partners Wealth reduced its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,945 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in AON were worth $35,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at $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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $354.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $377.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $375.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $275.07 and a 1-year high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.67.

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.