Grove Bank & Trust Increases Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3,140.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,245 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in AON were worth $2,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $596,665,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of AON by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $742,582,000 after acquiring an additional 960,204 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 56,460.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 761,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,052,000 after acquiring an additional 760,516 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,773,165,000 after acquiring an additional 627,742 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of AON by 5,877.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 536,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,572,000 after acquiring an additional 527,204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Down 0.9%

AON stock opened at $349.88 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $361.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $372.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $285.35 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.66 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AON shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price objective on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $397.27.

AON Company Profile

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.