Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Buys 279,467 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 157.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 456,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 279,467 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in AON were worth $161,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AON. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of AON by 126.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,852,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,770,975,000 after purchasing an additional 4,387,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter worth $1,155,981,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in AON in the third quarter worth $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in AON by 40,219.8% in the 3rd 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 position in shares of AON by 41.6% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

NYSE AON opened at $329.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $70.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.71. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $381.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $332.44.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.67 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho dropped 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.50.

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.