WBI Investments LLC Takes Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $686,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 5.1% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in AON by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in AON by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in AON by 3.9% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AON by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America cut AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $297.68. The stock had a trading volume of 539,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,254. The stock has a market cap of $64.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $301.87. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $344.68.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. 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.