Fiera Capital Corp Increases Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 678,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,792 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned about 0.34% of AON worth $197,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AON. Cubic Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AON during the fourth quarter valued at $1,050,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,058,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,989,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in AON by 177.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,461 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,372,000 after acquiring an additional 11,806 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in AON by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $329.69.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $292.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,485,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,191,731. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $347.37. The firm has a market cap of $63.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $308.41 and its 200 day moving average is $310.59.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.

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