BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,787 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in AON were worth $13,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 88,361 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,773,165,000 after purchasing an additional 627,742 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in AON by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,564,824 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $921,182,000 after purchasing an additional 343,592 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AON by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,329,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $824,498,000 after buying an additional 64,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of AON by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,158,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $775,406,000 after buying an additional 183,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Price Performance

AON stock traded down $2.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $362.45. 207,606 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,735. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $368.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $374.48. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $275.07 and a 12 month high of $412.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON's payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AON. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price objective on AON in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AON 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.