Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Shares Acquired by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 91.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 122,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,354 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $35,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 262.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in AON by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 73,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,516,000 after purchasing an additional 8,396 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of AON by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 196,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,185,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON during the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in AON by 155.6% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,924 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $347.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $335.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock has a market cap of $75.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.92. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $353.54.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. AON had a return on equity of 252.81% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on AON in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $337.27.

AON Company Profile

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.