Norges Bank Buys New Holdings in Aon plc $AON

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,275,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,981,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.52% of AON at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at $770,000. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in AON by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 472,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,736,000 after acquiring an additional 52,077 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of AON by 229.2% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 50,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,740,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AON by 128.3% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 156,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,139,000 after purchasing an additional 87,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:AON opened at $315.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Aon plc has a one year low of $304.59 and a one year high of $381.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $334.14. The stock has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.72.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. AON’s payout ratio is presently 16.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on AON shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $408.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.81.

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.