Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Bought by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of AON worth $111,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth about $55,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at $38,448,790. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Andy Weitz 8,454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired 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 owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AON Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE AON traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $328.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,326,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,304,023. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $344.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 4.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $293.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.02.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a return on equity of 252.81% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AON. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AON from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $311.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AON from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $330.21.

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.