Farallon Capital Management LLC Purchases 291,600 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,278,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 291,600 shares during the period. AON makes up about 3.3% of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Farallon Capital Management LLC owned about 1.06% of AON worth $812,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,235,437,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AON in the second quarter worth $754,671,000. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of AON by 40,219.8% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,922,000 after purchasing an additional 844,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its holdings in AON by 41.6% in the third quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,096,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,565,000 after purchasing an additional 615,570 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AON. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $395.00 price target on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of AON from $393.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $436.00 price target on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $408.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.94.

AON Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:AON opened at $321.39 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $334.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $304.59 and a 1-year high of $402.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.10. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. AON’s payout ratio is currently 17.51%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 4,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total transaction of $1,641,981.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. The trade was a 19.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.