Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases New Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 35,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,794,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 2,025.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 93 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in AON during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

AON Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AON traded up $3.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $394.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 792,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,688. The company has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $395.65. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $366.73 and a 200 day moving average of $360.64.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $386.21.

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.