Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Stock Holdings Raised by Lincoln National Corp

Lincoln National Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in AON were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AON. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in AON by 410.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after purchasing an additional 526,353 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in shares of AON by 61.5% during the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,387,000 after buying an additional 229,500 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of AON by 5,151.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,742,000 after purchasing an additional 223,114 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of AON by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after buying an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,831,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AON traded down $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $287.85. The stock had a trading volume of 215,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,124,051. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $347.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AON shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.69.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.