Aon plc $AON Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1,074.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 120,760 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AON were worth $36,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 693.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Downshift Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of AON by 15,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. Downshift Financial LLC now owns 158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. Ashurst Perkins Coie Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AON by 35.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lester Knight bought 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $327.48 per share, with a total value of $6,549,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 163,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,379,240. This trade represents a 13.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AON Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:AON opened at $336.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $300.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.94. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $266.33 and a 1 year high of $382.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 4.72.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 40.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of AON from $417.00 to $342.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AON from $412.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of AON from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $319.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on AON from $375.00 to $401.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut AON from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $369.12.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk and make decisions about their people and finances. Its services include insurance brokerage, risk consulting, reinsurance solutions, employee benefits consulting and retirement and investment advisory services. The company serves businesses and institutions across a broad range of industries and geographies. Aon was formed in 1982 as Ryan Insurance Group and adopted the Aon name in 1987. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and operates internationally.