Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 80.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,995 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $2,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 0.6%

AON stock opened at $355.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $76.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $275.07 and a 1 year high of $412.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $375.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $375.38.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AON’s payout ratio is presently 25.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $384.00 to $378.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $391.75.

About AON

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.