Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 267,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,893 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of AON worth $96,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,856,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AON by 3.6% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of AON by 6.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 215,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,499,000 after acquiring an additional 12,850 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AON. Barclays increased their target price on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $386.21.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,121.44. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total transaction of $494,292.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,291.36. This trade represents a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

AON Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AON traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $393.04. 667,938 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,018,053. The company has a market cap of $85.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $367.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $361.10. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $395.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS 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 posted $3.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. AON's payout ratio is 21.33%.

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.