Vident Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 508.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,597 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $4,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in AON by 2,025.0% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Down 0.8%

AON stock opened at $362.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $275.07 and a 52 week high of $412.97. The company has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $371.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $375.08.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. AON’s payout ratio is 25.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AON shares. Barclays cut their target price on AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $384.00 to $378.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.75.

About AON

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.