Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 54,593 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 200.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,593 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in AON were worth $29,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AON. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth about $596,665,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of AON by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $742,582,000 after buying an additional 960,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AON by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,773,165,000 after acquiring an additional 627,742 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AON by 43,000.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in AON by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,564,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,182,000 after acquiring an additional 343,592 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $373.79 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $390.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $374.21. The company has a market capitalization of $80.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AON shares. Redburn Atlantic raised AON to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.13.

About AON

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.