Baird Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 12th, 2023

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $8,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 13.7% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Busey Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Busey Wealth Management now owns 3,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in AON by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its stake in AON by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 86.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on AON in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AON from $313.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on AON from $340.00 to $344.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AON from $320.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AON from $320.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.00.

AON Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AON stock traded up $3.02 on Monday, reaching $317.34. 193,724 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 819,925. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 182.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $322.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.08. The company has a market capitalization of $64.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.90. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $246.21 and a twelve month high of $338.27.

AON (NYSE:AON – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.32 by ($0.15). AON had a net margin of 20.63% and a negative return on equity of 4,553.36%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.83 earnings per share. AON’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 14.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st were issued a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 28th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Eric Andersen sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.55, for a total transaction of $2,516,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 144,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,374,230.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About AON

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Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It operates through Global Professional Services Firm segment. The Global Professional Services Firm segment involves in the provides advice and solutions to clients focused on risk, health and wealth through four principal products and services.