Aon plc $AON Stock: Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stake

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1,167.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,833 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in AON were worth $10,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in AON by 11,179.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,026,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,313,000 after buying an additional 3,990,441 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of AON by 16.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,582,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $510,857,000 after buying an additional 222,092 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of AON by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,502,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $485,103,000 after acquiring an additional 285,549 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of AON by 2,986.4% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,384,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of AON by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,253,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $404,709,000 after acquiring an additional 213,051 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded AON from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AON from $412.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded AON from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, September 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $391.00 to $349.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $369.12.

AON Stock Up 0.0%

AON stock opened at $336.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.94. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $266.33 and a 52-week high of $382.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 4.72.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.06. AON had a return on equity of 40.46% and a net margin of 22.24%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AON news, Director Lester Knight purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $327.48 per share, for a total transaction of $6,549,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 163,000 shares in the company, valued at $53,379,240. This represents a 13.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk and make decisions about their people and finances. Its services include insurance brokerage, risk consulting, reinsurance solutions, employee benefits consulting and retirement and investment advisory services. The company serves businesses and institutions across a broad range of industries and geographies. Aon was formed in 1982 as Ryan Insurance Group and adopted the Aon name in 1987. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and operates internationally.