Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 5,399 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Aon plc by 7.1%, now holding 70,901 shares valued at approximately $28.3 million.
• Other hedge funds have increased their positions in Aon, with Portside Wealth Group expanding holdings by 530.6% to over 11,000 shares.
• Aon's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $3.49, surpassing estimates, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.745.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,399 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in AON were worth $28,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,430 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in AON by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 988,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $355,204,000 after purchasing an additional 130,434 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in AON by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,158,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $775,406,000 after purchasing an additional 183,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Frontier Investments LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,599,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

NYSE AON traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $367.16. The company had a trading volume of 774,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,106. The company has a market capitalization of $79.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $361.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $370.01. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $323.73 and a twelve month high of $412.97.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.09. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, August 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $402.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised AON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 price target (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.69.

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.