Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 14,465 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 30.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 62,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,465 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in AON were worth $20,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 28.4% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in AON by 9.1% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,992,000 after buying an additional 8,216 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in AON by 35.2% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 292,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,249,000 after buying an additional 76,061 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AON by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of AON by 46.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,286,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $361.26 on Friday. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $381.00. The company has a market cap of $77.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.38.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. AON’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AON. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AON from $396.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AON from $372.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of AON from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.56.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 15,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,527,440. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.