Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Purchased by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $29,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $596,665,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in AON by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $742,582,000 after acquiring an additional 960,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AON by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,773,165,000 after acquiring an additional 627,742 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in AON by 43,000.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,404,000 after purchasing an additional 390,017 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of AON by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,564,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $921,182,000 after purchasing an additional 343,592 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON opened at $375.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $390.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $374.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.745 dividend. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. AON’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AON. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on AON in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $393.87.

AON 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.