Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $12.84 Million Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,743 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AON were worth $12,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 410.9% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after purchasing an additional 526,353 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 61.5% in the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,387,000 after purchasing an additional 229,500 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of AON by 5,151.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,742,000 after purchasing an additional 223,114 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at about $50,831,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $329.69.

Insider Activity at AON

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last three months. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AON Trading Up 0.5 %

AON stock opened at $283.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $315.28 and a 200-day moving average of $313.15. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $347.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. AON’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.16%.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.