OLD National Bancorp IN Boosts Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in AON were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,375,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP raised 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 buying an additional 883,761 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of AON by 334.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,050,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,475,000 after acquiring an additional 808,990 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $906,040,000. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in AON by 5,694.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 242,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,883,000 after purchasing an additional 238,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $371.39 on Friday. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $395.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market cap of $80.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $366.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $353.21.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 107.43% and a net margin of 16.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.78%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AON shares. Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $377.00 to $410.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of AON from $415.00 to $411.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $370.87.

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.