Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,743 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,743 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AON were worth $12,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AON by 71.2% during the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S lifted its position in shares of AON by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 828,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,187,000 after purchasing an additional 54,166 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter worth $621,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AON by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 337,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,110,000 after acquiring an additional 16,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at $49,690,098. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total value of $6,420,445.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AON shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $329.69.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $283.55 on Thursday. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $347.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $315.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.15.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. AON’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.