Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 337,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,214 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of AON worth $98,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,390,000 after purchasing an additional 50,290 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of AON by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after acquiring an additional 179,238 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AON by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,094,000 after acquiring an additional 55,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of AON by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,311,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AON. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $334.69.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Down 6.9 %

AON stock traded down $20.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.03. 4,566,608 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 882,672. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $317.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.06. The firm has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. 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 21.16%.

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.