Fiera Capital Corp Trims Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp reduced its stake in Aon plc by 8.8%, holding approximately 0.21% of the company's shares worth about $180.95 million after selling 43,899 shares in the first quarter.
• Aon has received various analyst upgrades with target prices ranging from $401.00 to $438.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.745, representing an annual dividend yield of 0.81% and a payout ratio of 24.96%.

Fiera Capital Corp cut its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 453,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 43,899 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.21% of AON worth $180,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AON by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,773,165,000 after purchasing an additional 627,742 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 18.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,034,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,210,864,000 after buying an additional 469,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,158,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $775,406,000 after buying an additional 183,442 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,123,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $762,796,000 after buying an additional 86,148 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $809,544,000 after buying an additional 6,038 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 price objective (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $409.21.

AON Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AON stock traded down $2.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $352.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 829,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,887. The company has a market cap of $76.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $358.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $370.81. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $322.95 and a 1-year high of $412.97.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.