Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 80.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,995 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in AON were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter worth about $596,665,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of AON by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $742,582,000 after buying an additional 960,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AON by 14.5% in 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 buying an additional 627,742 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of AON by 5,877.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 536,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $192,572,000 after buying an additional 527,204 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in AON by 43,000.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Stock Up 1.4%

AON traded up $5.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $372.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,849,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,195,668. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $278.60 and a 1-year high of $412.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $366.68 and a 200-day moving average of $374.10.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price objective on AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $397.27.

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.