Aon plc $AON Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1,891.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 545,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 518,548 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in AON were worth $151,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in AON by 5,225.7% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 194,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,713,000 after purchasing an additional 190,426 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N.A. bought a new position in AON during the third quarter worth about $10,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in AON by 16.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 106,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,282,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in AON by 638.1% during the third quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 5,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 4,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in AON by 76,726.4% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 113,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,470,000 after buying an additional 113,555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. Evercore cut their price objective on AON from $423.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on AON in a report on Monday, September 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $435.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on AON from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on AON from $416.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on AON from $410.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $369.12.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $336.36 on Thursday. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $266.33 and a 52 week high of $382.34. The company has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $300.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a current ratio of 4.72.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 40.46%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.96%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, Director Lester Knight bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $327.48 per share, for a total transaction of $6,549,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 163,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,379,240. This trade represents a 13.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk and make decisions about their people and finances. Its services include insurance brokerage, risk consulting, reinsurance solutions, employee benefits consulting and retirement and investment advisory services. The company serves businesses and institutions across a broad range of industries and geographies. Aon was formed in 1982 as Ryan Insurance Group and adopted the Aon name in 1987. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and operates internationally.