Aon plc $AON Shares Purchased by Independent Franchise Partners LLP

Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,115,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,037 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for approximately 4.7% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned about 0.98% of AON worth $746,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,305,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. grew its position in AON by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 51,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,186,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,070,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in AON by 1,640.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 143,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,519,000 after acquiring an additional 134,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 356,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,259,000 after buying an additional 84,446 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AON. Piper Sandler decreased 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on AON from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $394.94.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $327.00 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $322.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $332.11. The stock has a market cap of $69.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.71. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $381.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. 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. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

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.