Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 4,701 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 256,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,701 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $91,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AON during the second quarter valued at $754,671,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,289,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,238,569,000 after buying an additional 511,292 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in AON by 15.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,507,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,391,000 after purchasing an additional 473,594 shares during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AON by 193.2% during the 2nd quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 692,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,104,000 after purchasing an additional 456,399 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 92.9% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 889,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,118,000 after acquiring an additional 428,361 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $349.90 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $75.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.83. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $323.73 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $347.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.68.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AON. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of AON from $419.00 to $416.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AON from $448.00 to $443.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $395.00 target price on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AON has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.44.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.