Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 85,879 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in Aon plc by 54.5%, selling 85,879 shares, and now owns 71,746 shares valued at $28.6 million.
• Aon plc reported quarterly earnings of $3.49 per share, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.09, along with a revenue of $4.16 billion.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.745 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.8%.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 54.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 85,879 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in AON were worth $28,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AON in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of AON during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AON by 54.7% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC bought a new position in AON during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AON traded down $3.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $362.84. 239,606 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,304,994. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $323.73 and a 1 year high of $412.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.87. 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 $363.00 and a 200 day moving average of $368.92.

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

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $438.00 price objective (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.69.

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.