Franklin Resources Inc. Has $24.17 Million Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,192 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $24,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in AON by 2,025.0% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AON shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $386.21.

AON Stock Down 4.7 %

NYSE:AON opened at $375.94 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $391.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $373.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 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.