240,659 Shares in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 240,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $86,435,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of AON at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AON by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,237,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,563,000 after acquiring an additional 31,021 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,375,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in AON by 43,000.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in AON by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in AON by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,059,977,000 after acquiring an additional 32,417 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AON. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON Stock Up 0.3 %

AON stock opened at $402.94 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $377.28 and its 200 day moving average is $367.05. The company has a market capitalization of $87.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. AON’s payout ratio is 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.