Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Position Raised by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 55.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,896 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AON were worth $21,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of AON by 410.9% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after buying an additional 526,353 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in shares of AON by 61.5% in the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,387,000 after buying an additional 229,500 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of AON by 5,151.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,742,000 after buying an additional 223,114 shares in the last quarter. James Hambro & Partners bought a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at $66,035,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AON by 8.3% in 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 buying an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $311.02 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $317.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.64. Aon plc has a one year low of $284.85 and a one year high of $347.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.82 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 issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,175,613.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.69.

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.