Aon plc $AON Shares Sold by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 51.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,490 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in AON were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in shares of AON by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 75,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in AON by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in AON by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its position in AON by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 4,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Stock Up 0.0%

AON opened at $323.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $341.61. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $400.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

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

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 4,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $319.24 per share, with a total value of $1,276,960.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at $45,651,320. This trade represents a 2.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at $6,598,550.66. This trade represents a 19.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

AON Company Profile

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.