Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 64,500 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,661,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 64,500 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.12% of AON worth $5,894,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $423,030,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 471,424 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in AON by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 950,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,936 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in AON by 401.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 344,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,097,000 after purchasing an additional 276,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its position in AON by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,030,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,802,000 after purchasing an additional 273,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

AON stock traded down $3.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $296.17. The stock had a trading volume of 883,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,383,970. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $344.68. The firm has a market cap of $64.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $291.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.26.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $311.00 target price on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AON from $289.00 to $287.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.36.

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.