Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 4,290,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total transaction of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at $716,121.44. This represents a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. The trade was a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,375,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in AON by 150.4% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 96,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,326,000 after purchasing an additional 57,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AON by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,059,977,000 after purchasing an additional 32,417 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 165,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,345,000 after buying an additional 20,084 shares during the period. Finally, Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the third quarter worth approximately $759,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AON from $415.00 to $411.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $370.87.

AON Trading Down 0.6 %

AON stock traded down $2.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $365.83. 859,980 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 713,661. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $349.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.93. AON has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $395.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.78%.

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.