Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Purchases 50 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AON. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in AON by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,390,000 after buying an additional 50,290 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AON by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $678,406,000 after acquiring an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in AON by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in AON by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,094,000 after buying an additional 55,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of AON by 0.5% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,311,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,219,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at $49,991,685.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last 90 days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.69.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $283.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.90. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $347.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $315.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.15.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

AON 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.