Nicholas Company Inc. Cuts Position in Aon plc $AON

Nicholas Company Inc. decreased its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,360 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. owned 0.08% of AON worth $64,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AON by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,778,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,893,382,000 after purchasing an additional 258,699 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in AON by 18.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,034,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,864,000 after purchasing an additional 469,238 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AON by 318.1% during the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,007,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,200,350,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288,397 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of AON by 2.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,390,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,053,000 after acquiring an additional 61,350 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of AON by 6.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,290,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $914,163,000 after acquiring an additional 131,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE:AON opened at $340.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $356.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $358.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $323.73 and a 12 month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AON. Wolfe Research began coverage on AON in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AON from $436.00 to $433.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup began coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $402.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AON from $421.00 to $427.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.00.

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.