Moore Capital Management LP Buys 37,475 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Moore Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 187,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,475 shares during the quarter. AON accounts for approximately 0.8% of Moore Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in AON were worth $67,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AON. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AON by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,519,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,010,714,000 after acquiring an additional 88,361 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AON by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,773,165,000 after buying an additional 627,742 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in AON by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,564,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $921,182,000 after acquiring an additional 343,592 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in AON by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,329,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $824,498,000 after buying an additional 64,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in AON by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,158,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,406,000 after purchasing an additional 183,442 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE AON opened at $354.10 on Monday. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $275.07 and a fifty-two week high of $412.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $377.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $375.67.

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

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AON. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $384.00 to $378.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.67.

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.