Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 11,947 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,947 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in AON were worth $39,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Dodge & Cox bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,235,437,000. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in AON by 40,219.8% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,922,000 after buying an additional 844,615 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in AON by 41.6% during the third quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,096,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,565,000 after buying an additional 615,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $142,986,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho dropped their price target on AON from $397.00 to $394.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $395.00 price objective on AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total transaction of $1,641,981.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 20,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. This represents a 19.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 143,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of AON stock opened at $323.77 on Friday. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $381.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $338.92. The company has a market cap of $69.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.42 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 18.98 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. AON’s payout ratio is currently 17.51%.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.