Praxis Investment Management Inc. Trims Position in Aon plc $AON

Praxis Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in AON by 318.1% during the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,007,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,200,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,397 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter valued at about $505,108,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter valued at about $490,634,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in AON by 18.3% during the 1st 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. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in AON by 276.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 460,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,456,000 after purchasing an additional 338,373 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of AON from $427.00 to $419.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of AON to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.00.

AON Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AON stock opened at $346.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $363.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $361.44. The company has a market cap of $74.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $323.73 and a 52-week high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.16 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

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.