Wealthspire Advisors LLC Buys 831 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $3,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in AON in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,175,613.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at $38,448,790. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AON shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.69.

AON Trading Down 1.6 %

AON traded down $4.54 on Wednesday, hitting $283.81. 1,848,020 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,142,855. Aon plc has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $347.37. The firm has a market cap of $61.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.97.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

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.