Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 69.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,578 shares during the quarter. Crestline Management LP's holdings in AON were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in AON by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Bosun Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Bowie Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 270,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $97,329,000 after acquiring an additional 7,611 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,227,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AON by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AON shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised AON to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $390.67.

AON Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AON traded down $3.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $354.10. 747,874 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,622. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $275.07 and a twelve month high of $412.97. The company has a market cap of $76.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $377.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $375.67.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.04 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.66 EPS. Research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.745 per share. This is a positive change from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. AON's payout ratio is 25.38%.

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.