Richardson Financial Services Inc. Grows Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2,025.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $30,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AON. State Street Corp increased its position in AON by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,059,977,000 after acquiring an additional 32,417 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AON by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,322,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,690,000 after purchasing an additional 38,447 shares during the period. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 41.6% during the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,623,000 after purchasing an additional 883,761 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in AON by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,316,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,398,000 after buying an additional 177,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AON by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,206,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,528,000 after buying an additional 11,922 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Stock Down 0.2 %

AON stock opened at $371.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 2.05. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $395.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $366.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $354.12.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 107.43% and a net margin of 16.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. The trade was a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,121.44. This represents a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AON. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $377.00 to $410.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on AON from $415.00 to $411.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $370.87.

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.