Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 320,087 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. has reduced its stake in Aon plc by 64.8%, selling 320,087 shares and now owning approximately 0.08% of the company valued at $61.9 million.
• Polen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Aon by 318.1% in the first quarter, now owning over 3 million shares worth approximately $1.2 billion.
• Aon recently reported a quarterly earnings of $3.49 per share, surpassing consensus estimates, and announced a dividend of $0.745 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 0.9%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 320,087 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.08% of AON worth $61,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AON by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,778,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,893,382,000 after acquiring an additional 258,699 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of AON by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,034,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,210,864,000 after buying an additional 469,238 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its position in AON by 318.1% during the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,007,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,200,350,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288,397 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,390,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $954,053,000 after purchasing an additional 61,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of AON by 6.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,290,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $914,163,000 after purchasing an additional 131,676 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AON Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AON traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $352.77. 755,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,316,549. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.07 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $363.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $366.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $323.73 and a 52 week high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. AON's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 target price (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $402.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $414.69.

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.