The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 860,330 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company significantly reduced its holdings in Aon plc by 87.0%, leaving it with approximately $51.35 million in stock.
• A number of institutional investors, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, have increased their positions in Aon, highlighting a growing interest in the company despite the sell-off by Manufacturers Life.
• Analysts have generally positive views on Aon, with several firms raising their target prices, while the average target price for the stock currently stands at $412.69 and has an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 87.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 860,330 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of AON worth $51,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AON. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AON by 318.1% during the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,007,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,200,350,000 after buying an additional 2,288,397 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the first quarter valued at about $505,108,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the first quarter valued at about $490,634,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in AON by 56,460.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 761,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $304,052,000 after purchasing an additional 760,516 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 469,238 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $402.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.69.

AON Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AON stock traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $374.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,171,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,194,104. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.87. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $361.84 and a 200 day moving average of $369.66.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

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

AON 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.