Aon plc $AON Shares Acquired by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,785 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $8,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in AON by 126.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,852,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,770,975,000 after acquiring an additional 4,387,773 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $1,155,981,000. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter worth about $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of AON by 40,219.8% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,922,000 after purchasing an additional 844,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,372,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AON

In other AON news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 15,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,527,440. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AON from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AON from $396.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $409.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on AON from $389.00 to $426.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.56.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE AON opened at $366.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $78.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $332.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $331.19. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $304.59 and a 1-year high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.00%.

About AON

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.