Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Aon plc $AON

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,503,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in AON by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at about $115,000. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter worth about $1,732,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of AON by 3.3% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 82,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,454,000 after purchasing an additional 47,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AON shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on AON from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.94.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at $6,598,550.66. This trade represents a 19.93% 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. Also, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON opened at $321.39 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $304.59 and a twelve month high of $402.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $334.50 and a 200-day moving average of $346.26.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.51%.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.