Aon plc $AON is Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Weitz Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 218,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,285 shares during the quarter. AON comprises 4.6% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $77,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in AON by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AON by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in AON by 5.6% during the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in AON by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in AON by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AON. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AON from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.81.

AON Stock Down 0.4%

AON opened at $335.08 on Friday. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $304.59 and a 1-year high of $381.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $322.41 and a 200-day moving average of $332.66.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.67 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.36%.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.