Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth about $423,030,000. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth approximately $258,471,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON during the first quarter valued at approximately $210,911,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in AON by 37.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,000,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $587,445,000 after acquiring an additional 548,563 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in AON by 32.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,943,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $648,663,000 after acquiring an additional 471,424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America lowered shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $345.00 to $306.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays assumed coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $337.27.

AON Stock Up 0.8 %

AON stock opened at $350.69 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $326.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.44. The stock has a market cap of $76.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.92. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $353.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a return on equity of 252.81% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.23 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.16%.

AON Company 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.