Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 240,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $86,435,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in AON during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in AON by 2,025.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in AON by 1,162.5% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AON during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $386.21.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $402.94 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $377.28 and a 200-day moving average of $367.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

About AON

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.