ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,603 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in AON were worth $16,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AON. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $596,665,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of AON by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $742,582,000 after purchasing an additional 960,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AON by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,773,165,000 after purchasing an additional 627,742 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of AON by 5,877.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 536,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $192,572,000 after purchasing an additional 527,204 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AON by 43,000.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AON to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $391.75.

AON Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE AON opened at $362.10 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $375.07. The stock has a market cap of $78.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $275.07 and a 12-month high of $412.97. 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 (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The firm's revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.38%.

AON Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AON? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.