11,601 Shares in Aon plc $AON Acquired by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 11,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,745,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 1.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in AON by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,252,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,323,850,000 after purchasing an additional 176,207 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in AON by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,229,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,291,048,000 after buying an additional 105,154 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in AON by 126.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,852,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,770,975,000 after buying an additional 4,387,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 28,066 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on AON from $400.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of AON from $426.00 to $437.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AON from $406.00 to $419.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $410.75.

Insider Activity at AON

In related news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 1,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.76, for a total value of $717,744.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 11,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,345,751.04. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 4,450 shares of company stock worth $1,659,242 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AON Trading Down 0.9%

AON opened at $357.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $75.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.52. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $382.34.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.01. AON had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 42.13%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.08%.

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.