Norges Bank Takes Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,661,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $596,665,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.77% of AON at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AON. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 38.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 628,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,612,000 after buying an additional 174,838 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in AON by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,515,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of AON by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 33,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,205 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter worth $4,676,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in AON by 3.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 75,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,159,000 after buying an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AON shares. Redburn Atlantic raised AON to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $394.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $412.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $388.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.06. The firm has a market cap of $85.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

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.