Banque Pictet & Cie SA Reduces Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA reduced its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 34.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,634 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,258 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in AON were worth $15,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AON by 1,162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $494,292.00. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,121.44. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AON. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of 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. increased their price target on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $386.21.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON traded up $3.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $390.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,029,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,034,633. The business has a fifty day moving average of $366.14 and a 200 day moving average of $360.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.93. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $395.33.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.24 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

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