Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,860 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AON were worth $21,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter worth approximately $336,375,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AON by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,059,977,000 after purchasing an additional 32,417 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of AON by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of AON by 13.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 165,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,345,000 after acquiring an additional 20,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $759,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $389.51 on Friday. Aon plc has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $395.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $368.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $361.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 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 period last year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,291.36. This trade represents a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on AON shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AON presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

AON 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.