Credit Agricole S A Cuts Stake in Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A decreased its stake in Aon plc by 18.2%, selling 9,719 shares and now holds 43,708 shares valued at approximately $17.4 million.
• Aon plc's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $3.49 EPS against a $3.40 consensus, alongside revenues of $4.16 billion.
• Analyst ratings for Aon are mixed, with one Strong Buy, eight Buy ratings, and a consensus price target of $409.18, reflecting a Moderate Buy stance among analysts.

Credit Agricole S A trimmed its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 18.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,719 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in AON were worth $17,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in AON by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in AON by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in AON by 117.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 104,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,231,000 after acquiring an additional 56,314 shares during the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its position in AON by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in AON by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $969,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AON shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 price target (up from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated a "cautious" rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 target price (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $409.18.

AON Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AON stock traded down $0.8030 on Friday, reaching $374.4670. The company had a trading volume of 1,190,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,991. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $359.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $370.49. The firm has a market cap of $80.75 billion, a PE ratio of 31.36, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.83. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $323.73 and a 52-week high of $412.97. 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 (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. The business's revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

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

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.