Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Position Increased by Independent Franchise Partners LLP

Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,016,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 45,075 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for about 5.4% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned 0.93% of AON worth $724,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AON by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,237,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $444,563,000 after purchasing an additional 31,021 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of AON by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,676,000 after acquiring an additional 20,942 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 255,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,859,000 after purchasing an additional 40,850 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in AON by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,530,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in AON by 43,000.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Trading Down 1.5 %

AON stock traded down $5.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $367.08. 1,562,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,224,340. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $389.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $375.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON's payout ratio is 23.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AON. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised AON from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $393.87.

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.