Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Position Reduced by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AON. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,375,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of AON by 41.6% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,623,000 after buying an additional 883,761 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 334.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,050,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,475,000 after buying an additional 808,990 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in AON by 5,694.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 242,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,883,000 after acquiring an additional 238,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total transaction of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AON shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $386.21.

AON Stock Performance

AON opened at $392.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $369.16 and a 200-day moving average of $362.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $396.15. The company has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

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

AON Profile

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.