Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Takes Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 40,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,366,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AON. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 673 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $384.00 to $378.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. 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 report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded AON to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $391.75.

AON Stock Performance

AON traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $362.10. 1,096,937 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,604. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $372.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $375.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. 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 1-year low of $275.07 and a 1-year high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.83 billion. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

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.