Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Raises Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in AON were worth $4,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AON during the third quarter valued at approximately $336,375,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of AON by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,623,000 after purchasing an additional 883,761 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of AON by 334.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,050,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,475,000 after purchasing an additional 808,990 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of AON by 5,694.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 242,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,883,000 after buying an additional 238,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at $79,390,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In related news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE AON opened at $392.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.93. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $396.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $369.16 and a 200-day moving average of $362.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AON. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON 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.