Aon plc $AON Stock: Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1,389.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 72,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,510 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $20,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 11,179.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,026,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,313,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990,441 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in AON by 2,986.4% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,384,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,960 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in AON by 419.8% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 836,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,638,000 after purchasing an additional 675,919 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in AON by 74.7% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 797,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 340,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in AON by 754.4% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 380,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,348,000 after purchasing an additional 336,085 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In related news, Director Lester Knight acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $327.48 per share, for a total transaction of $6,549,600.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 163,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,379,240. This trade represents a 13.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AON Trading Up 0.1%

AON stock opened at $336.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $266.33 and a 12 month high of $382.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $300.38 and its 200 day moving average is $325.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 4.72.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. AON had a return on equity of 40.46% and a net margin of 22.24%. AON’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. AON’s payout ratio is presently 17.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AON. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $387.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AON from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of AON from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of AON from $387.00 to $356.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Evercore dropped their price target on AON from $423.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $369.12.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk and make decisions about their people and finances. Its services include insurance brokerage, risk consulting, reinsurance solutions, employee benefits consulting and retirement and investment advisory services. The company serves businesses and institutions across a broad range of industries and geographies. Aon was formed in 1982 as Ryan Insurance Group and adopted the Aon name in 1987. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and operates internationally.