M.D. Sass LLC Makes New $61.54 Million Investment in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

M.D. Sass LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 171,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $61,539,000. AON comprises approximately 4.6% of M.D. Sass LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. M.D. Sass LLC owned 0.08% of AON as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AON by 2,025.0% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AON by 1,162.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AON during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AON opened at $393.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $386.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.05. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $412.97. 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 (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AON. Evercore ISI raised shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

AON Company Profile

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.