Ascent Group LLC Increases Position in Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Aon plc by 40.5%, acquiring an additional 2,316 shares, bringing its total holdings to 8,034 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million.
• Aon plc reported $3.49 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.40, while also experiencing a 10.5% increase in revenue from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.745 per share, representing an annualized rate of $2.98 and a yield of 0.8%, with a dividend payout ratio of 24.96%.

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 40.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in AON were worth $3,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AON. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AON by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,778,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,893,382,000 after acquiring an additional 258,699 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AON by 18.3% during 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 last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its position in AON by 318.1% in the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,007,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,200,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,397 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AON by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,390,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $954,053,000 after buying an additional 61,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of AON by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,290,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $914,163,000 after buying an additional 131,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 price target (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised AON from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $402.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $415.50.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $372.12. 844,376 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,307,129. The firm's 50-day moving average is $363.54 and its 200 day moving average is $368.73. The company has a market capitalization of $80.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.87. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $323.73 and a 1 year high of $412.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93.

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

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

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.