First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 527,204 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 5,877.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 536,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 527,204 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.25% of AON worth $192,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at $1,685,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in shares of AON by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 10,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in AON during the third quarter worth $1,959,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Price Performance

NYSE:AON traded down $5.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $363.55. 1,889,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,237,051. The company has a market cap of $78.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $412.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $388.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $375.63. 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 (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.745 dividend. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AON from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AON to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $393.87.

AON Company 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.