UBS Group AG Sells 379,321 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• UBS Group AG cut its Aon stake by 31.6% in Q4, selling 379,321 shares and now holds 820,117 shares (about 0.38% of AON) valued at roughly $289.4 million.
• Aon raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 (annualized $3.28, ~1.0% yield), payable May 15 with an ex-dividend date of May 1.
• Wall Street has a consensus Moderate Buy on Aon with an average price target of $401.81 (14 Buys, 4 Holds); Aon’s most recent quarter reported EPS $4.85 (beat) while revenue slightly missed expectations.

UBS Group AG reduced its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 31.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 820,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 379,321 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.38% of AON worth $289,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 90,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,884,000 after buying an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AON by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,171,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,117,960,000 after buying an additional 191,658 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 3,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 591.4% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,671,000 after buying an additional 4,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Directional Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth about $371,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AON

In other AON news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total transaction of $1,641,981.60. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 20,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. The trade was a 19.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,651,320. This represents a 2.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AON shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $408.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $436.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $401.81.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $324.14 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $325.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.83. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.The business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.42 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Aon plc will post 18.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. This is a positive change from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. AON's payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.

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