Lafayette Investments Inc. Has $1.91 Million Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $1,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in AON by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 33,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,887,000 after buying an additional 8,959 shares during the last quarter. Tilt Investment Management Holdings PBC acquired a new position in AON in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in AON by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in AON by 194.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 49,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,329,000 after buying an additional 32,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 0.4 %

AON stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $309.97. 118,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 984,935. The stock has a market cap of $61.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a one year low of $284.85 and a one year high of $347.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $314.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at $49,991,685.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AON shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.69.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.