NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC Buys New Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC bought a new stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AON by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,661,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,894,053,000 after acquiring an additional 64,500 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of AON by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,524,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,519,000 after buying an additional 22,346 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of AON by 4.7% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,805,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $936,151,000 after buying an additional 127,173 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 471,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD grew its holdings in shares of AON by 0.6% during the first quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD now owns 1,719,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $573,699,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $345.00 to $306.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AON from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $330.21.

AON Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE AON traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $332.05. The company had a trading volume of 620,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,285,403. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $306.08 and a 200 day moving average of $305.32. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $344.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.91.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued 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 business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.25 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 dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

AON 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.