Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,034,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 469,238 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.40% of AON worth $1,210,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,519,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,010,714,000 after acquiring an additional 88,361 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AON by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,773,165,000 after buying an additional 627,742 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,329,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $824,498,000 after buying an additional 64,720 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of AON by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,158,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $775,406,000 after buying an additional 183,442 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in AON by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,123,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $762,796,000 after acquiring an additional 86,148 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:AON traded up $3.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $355.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 640,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,161,881. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $357.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $370.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $76.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.84. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $292.45 and a 52 week high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.83 billion. AON had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 52.71%. The company's revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This is a boost from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AON to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $397.27.

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.