Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Holdings Lifted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 205.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 493,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 331,888 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.23% of AON worth $197,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in AON by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in AON by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 11,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,765,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in AON by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its position in AON by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 779 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AON stock traded up $6.19 on Thursday, reaching $355.67. 1,366,391 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,275. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $361.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $373.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $285.35 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AON. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 reduced their price target on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised AON from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $384.00 to $378.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic raised AON to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.