Aon plc $AON Shares Acquired by Barings LLC

Barings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the quarter. AON makes up approximately 0.5% of Barings LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Barings LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $25,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Dodge & Cox acquired a new stake in AON in the third quarter worth $1,235,437,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,155,981,000. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of AON by 40,219.8% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,922,000 after purchasing an additional 844,615 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of AON by 41.6% in the third quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,096,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,565,000 after purchasing an additional 615,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.81.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $335.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $322.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $332.66. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $381.00. The stock has a market cap of $71.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.71.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.67 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.36%.

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.