Markel Group Inc. Purchases 4,250 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Markel Group Inc. increased its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 134,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,250 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $47,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AON by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,171,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,117,960,000 after acquiring an additional 191,658 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in AON by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,229,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,291,048,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in AON by 5.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,715,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,818,000 after acquiring an additional 207,690 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in AON during the third quarter worth $1,235,437,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in AON by 12.0% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,330,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $830,945,000 after acquiring an additional 249,549 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Bank of America upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.00.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AON opened at $324.73 on Friday. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $304.59 and a twelve month high of $381.00. The firm has a market cap of $69.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.84 and a 200-day moving average of $334.94.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 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.