Aon plc $AON Shares Acquired by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,409,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,580 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $497,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AON. AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in AON by 348.3% during the 4th quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 2,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC purchased a new position in AON in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,711,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in shares of AON by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 9,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,509,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of AON by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in shares of AON by 1,220.8% during the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 54,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,236,000 after acquiring an additional 50,384 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:AON opened at $321.70 on Friday. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $381.00. The stock has a market cap of $68.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $333.20.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.67 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. AON’s payout ratio is presently 16.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AON from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $389.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.81.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.