Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Takes Position in Aon plc $AON

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter worth $4,305,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its stake in AON by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 51,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,186,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter worth $1,070,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in AON by 1,640.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 143,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,519,000 after buying an additional 134,937 shares during the period. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 356,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,259,000 after buying an additional 84,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

NYSE:AON opened at $329.45 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.44. The company has a market cap of $70.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.71. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $304.59 and a 52-week high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.AON’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 19.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on AON from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.50.

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.