Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Acquired by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cubic Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AON during the 4th quarter worth $1,050,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AON by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,058,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,989,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in AON by 177.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,372,000 after buying an additional 11,806 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in AON by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in AON during the 4th quarter worth $3,203,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AON. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup began coverage on AON in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.43.

AON Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $279.30 on Friday. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $347.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $305.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $309.77. The company has a market cap of $60.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AON Company Profile

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.