Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Takes Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 92,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,068,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of AON by 2,025.0% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in AON by 1,162.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AON. Piper Sandler raised shares of AON from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $384.00 to $378.00 in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on AON from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $392.00.

AON Stock Performance

AON traded up $7.78 on Monday, hitting $343.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,943,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,794. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $386.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $375.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $275.07 and a 12 month high of $412.97. The firm has a market cap of $74.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This is a boost from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. AON's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

AON Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.