Aon plc $AON Shares Sold by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Key Points

• Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG drastically reduced its holdings in Aon plc by 92.9%, ending the second quarter with only 3,387 shares valued at approximately $1.2 million.
• Aon plc reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.49 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.40, and showed a 10.5% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company's latest dividend was issued at $0.745 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of approximately 25%.

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG decreased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 92.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 43,989 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings in AON were worth $1,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 530.6% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,412,000 after acquiring an additional 9,302 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 0.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,051,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $809,544,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in AON by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AON by 425.3% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 7,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,986,000 after buying an additional 2,932 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $351.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $363.73 and a 200 day moving average of $365.52. The firm has a market cap of $75.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.87. Aon plc has a one year low of $323.73 and a one year high of $412.97.

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

AON Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 price target (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AON from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently 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.

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