29,113 Shares in Aon plc $AON Bought by Hudson Bay Capital Management LP

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 29,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,381,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,292,000. Callan Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of AON by 220.7% during the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,163,000 after purchasing an additional 8,034 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,752,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in AON by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,053,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $732,299,000 after buying an additional 332,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its position in AON by 64.9% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 19,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,808,000 after buying an additional 7,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $408.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AON from $448.00 to $443.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 20,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. This trade represents a 19.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight bought 4,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,651,320. This represents a 2.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $316.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $332.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $345.27. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $304.59 and a twelve month high of $402.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.82.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.51%.

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.