Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $6.79 Million in Aon plc $AON

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 21,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,785,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in AON during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 15,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,527,440. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AON Trading Up 1.5%

AON stock opened at $361.26 on Friday. Aon plc has a one year low of $304.59 and a one year high of $381.00. The stock has a market cap of $77.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $336.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AON. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of AON from $404.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AON from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AON from $396.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler cut shares of AON from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $355.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of AON from $416.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.56.

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.