T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Aon plc, purchasing 284,411 shares valued at approximately $113.5 million, equating to 0.13% ownership as per its recent SEC filing.
• Recent analyst activity shows Aon has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging around $409.18, indicating positive sentiment among market experts.
• Aon announced a quarterly dividend of $0.745, reflecting a 0.8% yield, with a reported payout ratio of 24.96% as of its last financial results.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 284,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $113,506,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.13% of AON as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,288,397 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AON during the first quarter valued at $505,108,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in AON during the first quarter valued at $490,634,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in AON by 56,460.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 761,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $304,052,000 after acquiring an additional 760,516 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in AON by 18.3% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 469,238 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reissued 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $438.00 price objective (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup began coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $402.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $412.69.

AON Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AON traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $369.86. The stock had a trading volume of 171,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,375. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $323.73 and a 1-year 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $360.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $370.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.83.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

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