Veritas Asset Management LLP Has $797.57 Million Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Veritas Asset Management LLP decreased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,220,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 789,909 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for approximately 7.4% of Veritas Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Veritas Asset Management LLP’s holdings in AON were worth $797,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in AON by 2,025.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AON by 1,162.5% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in AON during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,121.44. This represents a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $392.14 on Tuesday. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $396.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $369.16 and its 200 day moving average is $362.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

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.