Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 35,000 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 229.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in AON were worth $17,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,235,437,000. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter valued at about $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in AON by 40,219.8% during 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 buying an additional 844,615 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 615,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at about $142,986,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AON. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of AON from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of AON from $393.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.81.

AON Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AON opened at $318.36 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $67.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $321.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $334.28. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. AON’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 19.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.36%.

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.