Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Short Interest Update

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 4,290,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

AON Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $365.83 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $395.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $368.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $349.40. The company has a market cap of $79.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.93.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Insider Activity at AON

In related news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total transaction of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,291.36. This trade represents a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AON by 49.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 36,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,006 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in shares of AON by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 43.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after buying an additional 4,122 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,542,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in AON by 5,232.5% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 208,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,071,000 after buying an additional 204,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $377.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $370.87.

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.