abrdn plc Boosts Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 71.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,825 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in AON were worth $26,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AON. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in AON by 410.9% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after acquiring an additional 526,353 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in AON by 61.5% during the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,387,000 after purchasing an additional 229,500 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in AON by 5,151.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,742,000 after purchasing an additional 223,114 shares in the last quarter. James Hambro & Partners acquired a new stake in AON during the third quarter worth approximately $66,035,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 in the last 90 days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $311.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. Aon plc has a one year low of $284.85 and a one year high of $347.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $317.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.53.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s payout ratio is 19.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $334.69.

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.