Norges Bank Acquires New Position in Aon plc $AON

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,275,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,981,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AON by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 70 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in AON in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $315.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $334.14. The company has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.72. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $304.59 and a 12-month high of $381.00.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost 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 was Friday, May 1st. AON’s payout ratio is presently 16.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho lowered their target price on AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on AON from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.81.

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.