Balentine LLC Buys New Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Balentine LLC acquired a new position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 713 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AON by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,519,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,010,714,000 after purchasing an additional 88,361 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AON by 14.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 627,742 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in AON by 18.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,034,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,210,864,000 after purchasing an additional 469,238 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AON by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,329,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $824,498,000 after purchasing an additional 64,720 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in AON by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,158,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $775,406,000 after acquiring an additional 183,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on AON in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on AON from $415.00 to $401.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $403.00.

AON Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AON traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $356.38. 1,079,879 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,165,773. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $358.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $370.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.84. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $296.56 and a twelve month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.04 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 52.71%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. AON's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.38%.

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.