3,112 Shares in Aon plc $AON Acquired by Cambria Investment Management L.P.

Cambria Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of AON during the second quarter worth $3,681,000. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its holdings in AON by 9.5% in the second quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in AON by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 2nd quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its stake in shares of AON by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 9,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 target price on AON in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $397.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.94.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 143,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,651,320. This trade represents a 2.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total transaction of $1,641,981.60. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. This trade represents a 19.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $316.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $345.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $304.59 and a 52-week high of $402.49.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.10. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.51%.

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.