Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AON. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in AON by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 5.4% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AON by 10.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in AON by 189.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 79,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,621,000 after acquiring an additional 52,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC grew its holdings in AON by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $399.34 on Friday. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $412.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $381.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $368.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON Company Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.