Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. Makes New $2.81 Million Investment in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,812,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AON by 196.7% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,875,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $550,521,000 after buying an additional 1,243,200 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter worth approximately $258,471,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in AON by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,000,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $587,445,000 after purchasing an additional 548,563 shares during the last quarter. Stone Point Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AON in the second quarter valued at approximately $151,808,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AON by 32.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,943,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $648,663,000 after purchasing an additional 471,424 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $337.27.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $348.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $75.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.92. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $353.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $338.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.02.

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

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. AON’s payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

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.