Stephens Inc. AR Purchases 2,300 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in AON were worth $13,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seascape Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of AON by 3.6% in the first quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 11,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth about $1,937,000. Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth about $334,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in AON by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in AON by 49.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AON. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on AON from $360.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AON from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.19.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AON traded up $7.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $364.35. 136,883 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,512,446. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $323.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $330.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.71. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.67 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.00%.

About AON

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.