Focus Partners Wealth Raises Stock Holdings in Aon plc $AON

Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 396.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 546,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 436,093 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.25% of AON worth $192,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,253 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of AON by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,992,000 after acquiring an additional 8,216 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of AON by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 292,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,249,000 after acquiring an additional 76,061 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of AON by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,286,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 0.1%

AON stock opened at $335.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $304.59 and a 12-month high of $381.00. The stock has a market cap of $71.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $322.69 and its 200 day moving average is $332.68.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 16.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AON from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $398.00 to $397.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.81.

AON Company 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.