Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 1,451 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AON were worth $9,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AON by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,059,977,000 after buying an additional 32,417 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,322,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,690,000 after purchasing an additional 38,447 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its position in shares of AON by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,623,000 after purchasing an additional 883,761 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AON by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,398,000 after purchasing an additional 177,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AON by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,206,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,528,000 after buying an additional 11,922 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $386.68 on Friday. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $395.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a market cap of $83.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $365.42 and its 200-day moving average is $356.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.39 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. The trade was a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total transaction of $256,321.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,121.44. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AON. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

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.