Aon plc $AON Stake Raised by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 591,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in AON were worth $210,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the second quarter worth approximately $754,671,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AON by 2.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,289,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,569,000 after purchasing an additional 511,292 shares in the last quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in AON by 193.2% in the 2nd quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 692,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,104,000 after buying an additional 456,399 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in AON by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 889,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,118,000 after buying an additional 428,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter valued at $142,986,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of AON from $448.00 to $443.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Sunday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on AON from $433.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $397.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.94.

AON Stock Down 2.2%

AON stock opened at $333.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $407.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its 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. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at AON

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

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.