Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 71.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 634,688 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $88,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at about $336,375,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in AON by 150.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 96,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,326,000 after buying an additional 57,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AON by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,059,977,000 after purchasing an additional 32,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AON by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 165,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,345,000 after purchasing an additional 20,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AON shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AON from $338.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AON from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $362.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. This represents a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE AON opened at $358.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $372.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $340.01. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $395.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. AON’s payout ratio is 22.78%.

AON 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.