Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Purchased by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AON by 106,777.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $845,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,814,643 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter worth $341,922,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of AON by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,223,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $667,355,000 after purchasing an additional 620,067 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 200.5% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 831,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,171,000 after purchasing an additional 555,078 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 410.9% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,184,000 after purchasing an additional 526,353 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AON opened at $304.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $317.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $284.85 and a 52-week high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.77 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of AON from $304.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $335.36.

About AON

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.