Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in AON by 1.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,390,000 after purchasing an additional 50,290 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in AON by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of AON by 0.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after buying an additional 18,500 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AON by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,094,000 after buying an additional 55,703 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of AON by 0.5% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,311,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,219,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AON traded up $4.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $284.60. 640,316 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,116,484. The company has a market cap of $61.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $313.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $312.39. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.69.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.