Townsend & Associates Inc Has $727,000 Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Townsend & Associates Inc cut its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in AON were worth $727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in AON by 2,025.0% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in AON by 1,162.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AON shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total transaction of $494,292.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,291.36. This trade represents a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at $716,121.44. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Down 0.9 %

AON opened at $389.51 on Friday. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $395.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $361.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The stock has a market cap of $84.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

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

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.