124 Shares in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Acquired by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AON by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,661,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,894,053,000 after buying an additional 64,500 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in AON by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,552,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,685,183,000 after acquiring an additional 309,702 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in AON by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,405,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,293,449,000 after acquiring an additional 52,099 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its position in AON by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,805,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $936,151,000 after acquiring an additional 127,173 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in AON by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,409,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,390,000 after acquiring an additional 49,161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $375.44 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $349.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $316.67. The stock has a market cap of $81.56 billion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.92. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $389.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.42.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. AON had a return on equity of 252.81% and a net margin of 18.00%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. AON’s payout ratio is 21.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AON shares. Barclays started coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America raised their price target on AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on AON from $338.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $349.69.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.