Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 18,400 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lessened its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,400 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in AON were worth $23,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $596,665,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of AON by 86.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 960,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AON by 14.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in AON by 5,877.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 536,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $192,572,000 after buying an additional 527,204 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AON by 43,000.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $140,404,000 after buying an additional 390,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AON. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AON to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $391.75.

AON Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AON stock opened at $362.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $371.70 and a 200 day moving average of $375.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $275.07 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

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.

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