Aon plc $AON Stock Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its Aon stake by 2,986.4% in the third quarter, adding nearly 1.34 million shares to hold 1.38 million shares worth about $383 million.
• Aon beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $3.36 and revenue of $4.10 billion; revenue rose 2.6% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Hold,” with an average price target of $369.12. Aon also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, equivalent to a 1.0% annual yield.

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 2,986.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,384,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,339,960 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for about 1.1% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.65% of AON worth $383,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in AON by 5.3% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Aspen Grove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 4.8% in the first quarter. Aspen Grove Capital LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Novem Group boosted its stake in shares of AON by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Novem Group now owns 3,460 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 651 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RDA Financial Network boosted its stake in shares of AON by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $335.99 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $300.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.95. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $266.33 and a 12 month high of $382.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.08 billion. AON had a return on equity of 40.46% and a net margin of 22.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. AON's payout ratio is presently 17.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AON news, Director Lester Knight purchased 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $327.48 per share, for a total transaction of $6,549,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 163,000 shares in the company, valued at $53,379,240. The trade was a 13.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $423.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AON from $366.00 to $324.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AON from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of AON from $375.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $369.12.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk and make decisions about their people and finances. Its services include insurance brokerage, risk consulting, reinsurance solutions, employee benefits consulting and retirement and investment advisory services.

The company serves businesses and institutions across a broad range of industries and geographies. Aon was formed in 1982 as Ryan Insurance Group and adopted the Aon name in 1987. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and operates internationally.

Greg Case has served as Aon's chief executive officer since 2005.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.