Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Position in Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Aon plc by 13.1%, owning approximately 272,072 shares worth $108.58 million following the acquisition of an additional 31,413 shares.
• Aon plc reported $3.49 EPS for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.40, with revenues of $4.16 billion, marking a 10.5% year-over-year growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.745 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 24.96%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 272,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,413 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.13% of AON worth $108,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in AON by 530.6% during the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,412,000 after buying an additional 9,302 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in AON by 5.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,183,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AON by 425.3% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. grew its holdings in AON by 64.4% during the first quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 7,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,986,000 after buying an additional 2,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 price target (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up previously from $401.00) on shares of AON in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $409.18.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AON traded down $0.8030 during trading on Friday, reaching $374.4670. 1,190,563 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,472,991. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $323.73 and a 52-week high of $412.97. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $359.36 and a 200-day moving average of $370.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.83.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.16 billion. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

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