O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $8,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of AON by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 628,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,612,000 after acquiring an additional 174,838 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in AON by 11.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in AON by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 1,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP bought a new position in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter worth $362,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE AON opened at $398.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $86.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $372.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AON shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AON to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $386.21.

AON Profile

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.