Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $116,000 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 the stock. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in AON by 410.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,184,000 after acquiring an additional 526,353 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in shares of AON by 61.5% during the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,387,000 after purchasing an additional 229,500 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AON by 5,151.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,742,000 after buying an additional 223,114 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AON by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $678,406,000 after acquiring an additional 179,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,831,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,128. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 in the last three months. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.69.

AON Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $283.55 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $315.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.15. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $347.37. The company has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.