Wealthspire Advisors LLC Purchases 42,739 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 273,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,739 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for 0.8% of Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $96,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AON by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,171,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,117,960,000 after purchasing an additional 191,658 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in AON by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,252,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,323,850,000 after acquiring an additional 176,207 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in AON by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,229,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,291,048,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,141,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,810,726,000 after acquiring an additional 28,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in AON during the third quarter worth about $1,235,437,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AON shares. Bank of America raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on AON from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.81.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $335.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $322.69 and a 200-day moving average of $332.68. 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 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.71.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. AON’s payout ratio is currently 16.36%.

About AON

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.