Aon plc $AON Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has decreased its stake in Aon plc by 5.3%, now holding 34,076 shares valued at approximately $13.5 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Aon, with Citigroup rating it as "neutral" at $402.00, while Barclays has upgraded its target to $420.00.
• Aon recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.745, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.98 and a yield of 0.8%.

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,924 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in AON were worth $13,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in AON during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AON by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC bought a new stake in AON during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AON during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $372.12. 844,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,022,671. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $363.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.73. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $323.73 and a 1-year high of $412.97. 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 (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.16 billion. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. AON's payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AON shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised AON from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $438.00 price objective (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.50.

AON Company Profile

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.