Ascent Group LLC Sells 549 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 549 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 5.5% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of AON by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in AON by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of AON in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays initiated coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $337.27.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $347.67 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $335.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $312.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.92. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $353.54.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.23 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

AON Company 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.