Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Bought by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.4% 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 56,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $20,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,237,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,563,000 after buying an additional 31,021 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of AON by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,676,000 after purchasing an additional 20,942 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 255,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,859,000 after purchasing an additional 40,850 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in AON by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in AON by 43,000.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,404,000 after buying an additional 390,017 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AON. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $393.87.

AON Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $367.08 on Friday. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $412.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $389.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $375.48. The company has a market capitalization of $79.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.745 dividend. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AON’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

About AON

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.