Fayez Sarofim & Co Raises Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co has increased its stake in Aon plc by 7.7%, owning 17,716 shares valued at approximately $7.07 million after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares in the first quarter.
• Aon received several upgrades from analysts, with Barclays setting a new target price of $420.00, while Wells Fargo raised its target from $436.00 to $438.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.745, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of approximately 24.96%.

Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings in AON were worth $7,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in AON in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 target price (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $409.21.

AON Trading Up 0.4%

AON traded up $1.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $366.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,095,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,402,192. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The business's 50-day moving average is $357.97 and its 200-day moving average is $370.66. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $323.73 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The stock has a market cap of $79.00 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.83.

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

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

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.