Aon PLC (AON) Position Cut by Scharf Investments LLC

Scharf Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 968,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,743 shares during the quarter. AON makes up approximately 5.6% of Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC owned approximately 0.40% of AON worth $140,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at $261,000. Dupont Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at $438,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at $6,587,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in AON by 118.7% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 55,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,501,000 after acquiring an additional 30,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in AON by 138.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 31,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,907,000 after acquiring an additional 18,527 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.24% of the company’s stock.

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A number of analysts have commented on AON shares. Zacks Investment Research cut AON from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 3rd. ValuEngine cut AON from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Co upped their price target on AON from $165.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AON from $152.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 14th. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on AON in a research report on Tuesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.10.

AON traded up $2.14 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $164.18. The company had a trading volume of 13,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,674. The stock has a market cap of $41.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Aon PLC has a 1 year low of $134.82 and a 1 year high of $173.53.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. AON had a return on equity of 43.49% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aon PLC will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 1st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 31st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.61%.

In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $214,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $890,572.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 58,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.90, for a total value of $9,938,176.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 288,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,221,934.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,470 shares of company stock valued at $13,468,000. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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About AON

Aon plc provides risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resource consulting and outsourcing services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Risk Solutions and HR Solutions. The Risk Solutions segment offers retail brokerage services, including affinity products, managing general underwriting, placement, captive management services, and data and analytics; risk management solutions for property liability, general liability, professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, transaction liability, cyber liability, workers' compensation, and various healthcare products; and health and benefits consulting services comprising structuring, funding, and administering employee benefit programs.

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