Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 1,600 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Aon plc by 4.0%, owning a total of 41,400 shares valued at approximately $16.5 million after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the latest quarter.
• A number of brokerages have recently upgraded their ratings on Aon, with Goldman Sachs raising its target price to $408 and Evercore ISI increasing its target from $411 to $421.
• Aon plc announced a quarterly dividend of $0.745 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 0.8%, with a record date set for August 1st.

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in AON were worth $16,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 258,699 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 469,238 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.6% during the first 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 9.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.3% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,051,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $809,544,000 after buying an additional 6,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Price Performance

AON stock traded down $3.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $364.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,991,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,852. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $323.73 and a 52 week 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $357.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $370.73. The stock has a market cap of $78.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.83.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. AON's payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AON shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 target price (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on AON in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $409.21.

AON 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.