Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Buys 32,494 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,596,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,494 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for 2.9% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $563,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,171,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,117,960,000 after purchasing an additional 191,658 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AON by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,229,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,291,048,000 after buying an additional 105,154 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in AON by 5.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,715,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,818,000 after buying an additional 207,690 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox acquired a new stake in AON in the third quarter valued at about $1,235,437,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in AON by 12.0% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,330,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $830,945,000 after buying an additional 249,549 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $408.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.00.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $324.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $321.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $335.02. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $304.59 and a 12 month high of $381.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 19.07 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This is a positive change 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%. AON’s 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.