Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys 152,947 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3,269.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 157,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,947 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.07% of AON worth $56,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AON by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,237,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,563,000 after buying an additional 31,021 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in AON by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,676,000 after purchasing an additional 20,942 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its position in shares of AON by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 255,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,859,000 after purchasing an additional 40,850 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in AON by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AON by 43,000.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AON shares. Piper Sandler upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $384.00 to $378.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.67.

AON Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $359.56 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $379.55 and a 200-day moving average of $375.44. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $275.07 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $77.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.745 dividend. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.38%.

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.