Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $742.58 Million Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 86.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 960,204 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for 1.1% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.96% of AON worth $742,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in AON by 2,025.0% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 1,162.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $396.29 on Thursday. 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 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $412.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $387.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $371.56. The company has a market capitalization of $85.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

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.