Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Purchased by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 503.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,284 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in AON were worth $983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in AON during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in AON by 2,025.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in AON by 1,162.5% during 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. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in AON during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AON. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock traded down $3.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $389.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,751,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,920. The stock has a market cap of $84.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $361.55. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $395.65.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

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