Ninety One North America Inc. Acquires 107,302 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Ninety One North America Inc. increased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1,433.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,302 shares during the period. AON makes up 2.0% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $40,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the second quarter worth about $2,066,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in AON by 2.2% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,095,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in AON by 12.4% in the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC raised its position in AON by 69.8% in the second quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 1,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI grew its holdings in shares of AON by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $438.00 target price (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AON from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $414.69.

AON Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AON opened at $356.51 on Wednesday. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $323.73 and a 12 month high of $412.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $363.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $364.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market cap of $76.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.87.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.96%.

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.