Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 2,547 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,547 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in AON were worth $9,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AON. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in AON by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in AON by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in AON by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AON. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $391.75.

AON Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE AON traded up $3.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $356.63. 445,902 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,327,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business's 50-day moving average is $376.48 and its 200-day moving average is $375.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $275.07 and a twelve month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.38%.

About AON

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.