Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases 78,900 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Aon plc by 85.7%, acquiring an additional 78,900 shares, bringing its total holdings to 170,969 shares valued at approximately $68.2 million.
• Research firms are reacting positively towards Aon, with Piper Sandler raising its price target to $413 and Jefferies upgrading their rating from "hold" to "buy".
• Aon announced a quarterly dividend of $0.745 per share, yielding about 0.8%, reflecting a payout ratio of 24.96%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 85.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 170,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 78,900 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.08% of AON worth $68,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:AON traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $370.06. 788,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,158,093. The company has a fifty day moving average of $362.56 and a 200 day moving average of $369.24. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $323.73 and a 12 month high of $412.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 50.91%. The company's revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.69.

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.