OLD National Bancorp IN Reduces Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

OLD National Bancorp IN lowered its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in AON were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AON. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AON by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,452,390,000 after acquiring an additional 50,290 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of AON by 8.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in AON by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in AON by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,094,000 after purchasing an additional 55,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in AON by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,311,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,219,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 0.3 %

AON opened at $311.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $61.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $317.78 and its 200 day moving average is $314.53. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $284.85 and a 12-month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by ($0.18). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. AON’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AON shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at $49,991,685.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased 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 $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

About AON

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.