Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Takes Position in Aon plc $AON

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of AON by 12.3% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AON by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,331,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in AON by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in AON by 12.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 19,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 7.0% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $395.00 price target on AON in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $402.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of AON from $419.00 to $416.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $436.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price objective on AON in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $411.35.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $344.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $349.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $323.73 and a 52-week high of $412.97. The stock has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.84.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.14. AON had a return on equity of 48.88% and a net margin of 15.96%.The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.72 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. AON’s payout ratio is presently 23.88%.

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.